Takato's Fate
by NatNicole
Summary: Who would have thought that simply moving from Shinjuku to Odaiba would change Takato's life forever? Follow the teenager goggle-head as he struggles over who he loves, embarks on the biggest adventure yet, and finds out his destiny.
1. Episode 1: Meetings

This is my version of leonardo1123581321's and creepingshadow's story Takato's Light. I liked Takato's Light, but there were parts I want to change and its sequel was rather disappointing. I do NOT mean to flame the writers' work or anything like that, I just decided to write a sort of 21 years later sequel to that story but there are some changes from the original. I thought, since the sequel would otherwise be a little confusing, I'd write my own version of Takato's Light. I DON'T mean to steal any work and pretty much all credit goes to the writers of Takato's Light.

I realised since the story's about Takato's destiny a little bit I'd change the name. But after working on this, I figured maybe a different name would fit it better. So vote on the poll for a better name.

This takes place about a year after the end of CherrygirlUK's Twist of Fate.

* * *

**TAKATO'S FATE**

**Meetings**

It felt like a nightmare. But it wasn't, as he couldn't wake up to make his problems vanish. He held onto his backpack as he aimlessly wandered along the hallway of Odaiba High School. _Why did we have to move here?_ he thought for the hundredth time. _It's my first day and I already hate this school._

Every other student seemed to know where to go, except 15-year-old Takato Matsuda. He looked around, without the slightest clue of where his locker was. The chocolate haired teenager held a timetable in one hand and he was about to head for the stairs ahead, when a soccer ball came out of nowhere.

Not seeing it, Takato stepped on the ball and tripped backwards. He felt someone break his fall. "I gotcha."

Regaining his footing, Takato turned and saw a boy around his age. He had short-spiked maroon hair and, like Takato, wore goggles atop his head. The boy picked up his ball with an apologetic smile before introducing himself. "Hi, I'm Daisuke Motomiya. But you can call me Davis. Are you new?"

Takato nodded. "Yeah. I'm Takato Matsuda. Homeroom 9-D, but I've no idea how to find it or my locker."

"Then you bumped into the right guy! That's my class and I'll take you there, but first we gotta find your locker. Then I can give you the grand tour." The boy grabbed Takato's timetable and walked off. Takato shrugged and followed.

Davis was still grinning as he led Takato to their lockers, chattering about soccer non-stop. Not being very athletic, Takato just smiled gratefully. Davis seemed fun and like a good friend.

_But I already have friends,_ Takato thought sadly. _Henry, Kazu, Kenta, Ryo, Rika, and those three kids… Jeri… I wish they all were here._

The two boys arrived at their lockers, which were next to each other. Takato opened his, and a look of disgust came on his face. In the locker was a carton of long expired milk.

"Are all lockers like this?" Takato asked. Davis closed his own locker and took a look at Takato's, his face going a slight shade of red.

_Dash! I forgot!_ he thought before answering the question: "Well… That depends on who had them last."

"Urgh!" Takato groaned, taking the carton with a paper towel in his hand. It felt squishy and smelt horrible. Takato put it in a nearby bin, before throwing a few of his books into the locker and slamming the door shut.

"So this is the victim of your prank?" a voice said from behind Takato. He turned and saw a blue-eyed blond boy of his age, wearing a light beige hat. Davis' face went even redder.

"I dunno what you're talking about, TK," he said, clasping his hands behind his head. Takeru Takaishi just grinned, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh yeah? What about that expired milk you left in the locker next to yours?"

"Wait, that was you?" Takato gasped, getting a little angry.

Davis threw his arms in the air, as if surrendering. "I can explain. It was… umm… Mice?"

TK laughed. "Mice? Boy, you gotta work on your excuses, Davis!" Then he turned to Takato, saying: "I take it Davis planned to give you 'the grand tour'. Don't listen to anything he says. He's a goofball."

"Am not!" Davis protested, and the two friends started bickering.

_Wow. They kinda remind me of Kazu and Kenta. I guess these guys might replace them, and I'll eventually find someone who will replace Jeri…_ Then Takato shook his head to get rid of the disturbing thoughts.

"No way!" he muttered fiercely to himself. Davis and TK turned to look at him, puzzled. Before neither of them could say anything, the bell rang.

"We gotta head to class. See ya, TK," Davis said as the boys parted ways.

* * *

Takato walked into the lunchroom. He stood awkwardly at the door and scanned the room for any sign of either Davis or TK. He had been invited to join them and their friends for lunch before separating from Davis after homeroom.

To his dismay, the mass of students gathered to buy food made it hard to see where Davis or TK were. Takato began walking around, hoping to spot them. People were quickly taking their seats and chatting to their friends. Carrying his tray, Takato just wandered about.

A hand suddenly landed on Takato's shoulder and he turned to see Davis. "Hi! Sorry, I forgot to tell you where we sit at lunch. Anyway, lets go!" Davis said in his usual cheery way.

They came to a table at the far end of the room, where TK was sitting with four other people. "Hey, guys! This is Takato, he's new."

Takato smiled at the group nervously, muttering a "hi".

"Oh, right! My name's Takeru Takaishi, but you can call me TK," the blond from before said, shaking hands with the newcomer.

"Hello. I am Iori Hida," the youngest of the group, a 13-year-old brunette with green eyes, said. He bowed to Takato politely. Takato wasn't sure f the junior expected him to bow back, but did it anyway.

"Hiya! I'm Yolei Inoue!" the oldest one, a 16-year-old girl with long lavender hair and glasses, greeted him enthusiastically. She shook hands with him rather vigorously, making Takato even more nervous.

_Guilmon, if only I could've brought you to school,_ Takato thought. He felt much better now, knowing his partner would be at home waiting for him. Bringing him to school would've caused a commotion, like that one time at his old elementary school in Shinjuku…

_Flashback_

_11-year-old Takato hurried up the stairs, not in the least caring he hadn't switched from his PE kit. He ran along the hallway, passing students gossiping about something the principal had seen._

"_Please don't be Guilmon, please don't be Guilmon, please don't be Guilmon," Takato kept saying. He passed through a large group of people and came to a halt._

_Guilmon's box was on the floor, and there was no trace of him. The principal was talking to a few teachers about seeing a red dinosaur._

Guilmon, what have you done? I gotta find him!_ "Guilmon," Takato muttered, darting off._

_End flashback_

Takato smiled as he thought of that incident, sitting down next to Davis and opposite a boy with shoulder length navy blue hair. The boy was the same age as Takato, Davis and TK, as was the last member of the group, a girl with chocolate-red eyes and short cocoa brown hair.

"Nice to meet you. I am Ken Ichijouji," the navy haired boy said, holding out a hand. Takato shook it.

"You wouldn't happen to mean former boy genius Ichijouji?" he asked.

Ken's polite smile turned into a frown. "Sure, if you want to say that," he said.

_Nice going, Takato. You made him angry on your first day. Some first impression,_ Takato thought, stammering an apology.

"Takato, I'd like you to meet Hikari Kamiya," Davis introduced the brunette girl on Takato's other side.

"Call me Kari," she said, holding up a hand to shake.

Just as their hands met, something that felt like a small electric shock caused the two to contract their hands. Takato fidgeted, and Kari looked at her hand. They suddenly became aware of the other staring at them and looked around.

"What?" Takato asked Davis, who whistled innocently.

"Nothing," he and the other four chorused.

**To be continued…**

* * *

Just in case it's confusing, I wanna explain about their schools. Izzy's on his last year of high school, but he transferred to one that specifies in technology, although they teach other stuff too, of course. The school system goes like this coz it's the only way I can make sense of it: Elementary, then High/Secondary, then University. I know most school systems aren't like that, but I decided to put it like that since I figured high school can have middle school and college all in one. In Frontier Takuya, Koji, Koichi and Zoe are twelve and on 6th grade. That makes Takato, Davis, Kari and Ken 9th graders in this fic. Plus, in 02, TK said Tai and Izzy are in high school. They are 14/15 and 13/14 in that series.

Another point I wanna make is that I don't mean to make Davis or Yolei sound stupid. Davis is one of my all-time faves, and I think Yolei's a great character even if she isn't my favourite. I just liked that prank in Takato's Light so much, I didn't wanna leave it out.

Enjoy the fic!


	2. Episode 2: Worries, worries

**Worries, worries**

"Come on, why won't you admit it?" Yolei complained to her best friend for the 30th time since lunch. The two girls were walking home since Yolei didn't have computer club and Kari hadn't photography club today. Iori, who was taught kendo by his grandpa, had gone ahead to the apartment complex he, Yolei and TK lived in. TK had basketball practice, and Davis and Ken had soccer.

Kari sighed. She should have expected Yolei to keep pestering her about it all the way. Kari just didn't understand why Yolei bothered. After all, Kari never butted in Yolei and Ken's relationship.

"Yolei, will you drop it? I don't think he's cute. Besides, I'm worried about Tai," Kari said, exasperated. Her mind cast back to her 18-year-old brother, Taichi Kamiya, who was in university and lived in a small apartment with the love of his life, Sora Takenouchi. The two had gotten together only about a year ago, and Kari had been very happy for them.

She remembered the time Tai moved out a little over a month ago…

_Flashback_

"_Wake up!" came a voice. Tai moaned and rolled over, ignoring it._

"_Okay, you asked for it, Tai," a different voice said. Tai suddenly felt his chocolate hair pulled with something that wasn't fingers._

"_Aargh!" Tai screamed, jerking up and hitting his head on the top bunk his sister used to sleep in. Rubbing his forehead, he turned and saw it had been his Digimon partner Agumon who had pulled his hair. The yellow dinosaur had a few hairs stuck between claws. Tai glared at him with his chocolate eyes._

"_Did you forget? Your first year in Tokyo University starts tomorrow," Kari said, giggling._

"_Oh, right!" Tai exclaimed, stumbling out of bed and falling face first on the floor. Kari and Agumon held their sides, laughing helplessly. It wasn't often that Tai was a klutz._

_At the breakfast table, Tai suddenly spoke solemnly to his sister: "Listen, if you ever need help or advice, I'll be there for you. I promise to call every now and then, so know that I will never truly leave you, Kari."_

_Kari was stunned. Many years ago, she had been ill when she was very little and Tai had taken her out to play some soccer with him. Kari's sickness had gotten worse and she had been taken to a hospital. Since that day, Tai had always looked out for her. Always._

_End flashback_

Kari sighed. Tai had gotten very distant over the past three weeks. He didn't contact Kari or any of his friends at all, and according to Sora he had gotten another part-time job besides the one he already had as a pizza boy. This made him too busy even for his girlfriend.

"You worry too much, Kari. My siblings rarely called when they went to university and moved out," Yolei said, snapping the younger girl out of her thoughts. "I know what'll make you feel better. Lets go to that new bakery that opened yesterday and buy something tasty."

* * *

Takato put his apron on as soon as he came home from school. He threw his backpack onto the living room sofa, and peeked into his bedroom. It looked just like his old room, including the slight mess.

"Guilmon?" Takato called, not seeing the Digimon anywhere. He suddenly got thrown flat on his stomach as someone tackled him into a hug from behind.

"Takato!" the Rookie said joyfully. "Can we play now?"

"Sorry, boy," Takato laughed, pushing him off. "After I help out at the bakery, okay? I promise."

He left his saddened partner behind in the apartment. As soon as Takato got out of the apartment complex, he crossed the street to the Matsuda Family Bakery.

"Oh, you're here, Takato," his mother said when the teenager walked in. "Could you give me a hand with the rolls? They were supposed to be in the display case, but your father had to run out and get some more ingredients for the dough. We ran out and it's only our second day."

"Sure," Takato replied without enthusiasm. He grabbed a tray of wheat rolls from the counter and walked to the front of the bakery to place them in the window case. Takato stacked them like a pyramid, knowing the bakery's products didn't sell well if they hadn't a good appearance.

One of the perks of having bakers as parents, Takato's favourite perk, was all the free bread and pastries. Most of it went to Guilmon, who loved bread and food of any kind.

The bell rang as the door was opened, and Takato instinctually smiled at the entrants. "Hello. Welcome to the Matsuda Family Bakery. How may I help you?"

"Oh, hi! It was Takato, right?" Yolei said. Next to her was Kari, seeming rather downcast.

"Yeah," Takato replied, surprised to see Davis' friends again. He noticed Kari's expression, and his sensitivity to others' feelings stirred. _I wonder what's the matter?_

"You OK?" he asked.

"Oh? It's nothing, I'm fine," Kari said, her gaze remaining towards the floor.

Before Takato could press the matter any further, his mum called out from the back of the bakery: "Is everything all right, Takato?"

"Yes, Mum!" was the reply. "So, what can I do for you two?"

"I'd like two of those twisted cones that have chocolate inside them," "Yolei said, "What about you, Kari?"

"Same, please," the brunette said, uninterested. Tai meant so much to her, she couldn't stop worrying.

Soon Takato gave them paper bags with their pastries inside. As he gave Kari her bag, he saw that she was clearly troubled by something.

It troubled him to see her like this. Mostly because looking at Kari kind of reminded Takato of Jeri, his girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend. On the day Takato had announced to his friends that he and his parents would be leaving Shinjuku in a few days' time, he had spoken to Jeri in private.

_Flashback_

"_You can still come visit," the auburn-haired girl said comfortingly, but it was no use. Both of them knew visiting often would be hard. The group never saw Ryo, who lived in Kyushu. True, Takato wasn't leaving the city of Tokyo, but it would take most of a day to travel from Odaiba to Shinjuku by car. What made matters worse, Odaiba was an island off the main city._

"_I guess… But… Do you honestly _want_ a long-distance relationship?" Takato asked, not facing her._

"_No… Then I guess… This is it," Jeri said slowly, on the verge of tears. Takato turned around and locked his chocolate-red eyes with Jeri's hazel ones. He could see the plain hurt in his only love's eyes…_

_End flashback_

"How much do we owe you?" Yolei asked, snapping Takato out of his thoughts.

"Uuh… 7.85 dollars," he said. Yolei paid and the two girls were about to leave. "Wait!"

They stopped and turned, surprised. Takato hurried to the kitchen, boiled some water, and made two paper mugs of hot chocolate. He came back and held a mug for each girl.

"Here. I hope this will make you feel better," Takato said to Kari gently. Kari couldn't help smiling and saying a proper thank you as she and Yolei took the mugs. "It's on the house."

"Thanks! We gotta go now, but we'll see you at school, 'K? Let us know if you need anything," Yolei said.

When the girls left, Takato mentally kicked himself for doing that. He had no money to pay for that and things should never be given for free in a bakery.

"It's nice to see you making friends," Takato's mum suddenly said, appearing on the doorway and startling Takato. "What do you think of that girl with the camera and short hair? She's really pretty."

"Her name's Kari and I was just being nice," Takato said, crossing his arms.

"And, you like her…" Mie Matsuda said with a giggle. She had seen Takato give the cocoa for free. He had only done that once before, to Jeri, when he had finally worked up the courage to ask her out.

"I don't!" Takato was getting near losing his temper. His mother then said something she would regret.

"Well, you know how far it is to Jeri's house, and your father and I don't have time to chauffeur you whenever you want. It's time to move on! Meet new friends, have new experiences and find new loved ones."

"Takato! Wait, I didn't mean it!" Mie called to her son as he turned on his heels and fled the bakery. But it was too late. Takato was long gone.

**To be continued…**

* * *

I don't mean to make Jeri sound like a cry baby. She just strikes me as the sensitive type.

Enjoy the next episode of Takato's Fate!


	3. Episode 3: Disappearance

**Disappearance**

Takato ran. He didn't know how long or how far, and didn't even know here he was. He was too furious to care.

Furious at his mother and her comment. She knew he could never like anyone the way he liked Jeri.

He loved Jeri. He cherished every moment he was with her. That was dearer to him than anything else in this world. How could he ever forsake that for someone else? Their time together meant everything to him. Yet, Takato had a terrible way of showing his affection for her. He should have moved out of the house when his parents said they were moving. He could have run away. He should have voiced his anger against it!

He should have stayed in his neighbourhood in Shinjuku, with his childhood friends Kazu and Kenta. His other good friends Henry and Rika. The three kids Suzie, Ai and Mako. And most of all, with Jeri.

As Takato ran, he didn't realize the air was getting colder and the world around him getting darker. The street lights that flickered to life moments ago sank back into darkness. The last beams of sunlight were disappearing one by one in a thick mesh of dark clouds. A heavy mist slowly crept up behind him, gaining speed as if it were chasing him down the winding street.

After what felt like an eternity of running, Takato came to a stop to catch his breath. Staring at his feet, hunched over with his hands resting on his knees, Takato came to the realization that he was standing on sand. A cold breeze sent chills down his spine. He looked up to see a vast, gray ocean before him. The wind that blew against him had no pull over the water. Waves did not crash against the shore and there were no splashes when Takato threw a pebble. Upon closer inspection, Takato realized the water was so dark and murky that he couldn't even see his own reflection in the water. The vast body of water before him was dead.

Stepping away from the water, Takato observed the horizon where the setting sun was. Or rather, where it should have been. Far off in the horizon, where the gray ocean touched the pale sky, Takato could only see black storm clouds swirling in a violent tempest. Stepping backwards, Takato murmured: "I think I'll be going home now."

He turned around to go back onto the sidewalk to find trees. Nothing but trees as far as his eye could see. Each tree was so full of life, with their greens leaves and pail bark, and yet equally dead. Dread overtook the boy, as he started to frantically look around. Where was he? How had he gotten here? His tracks! If he had been running, maybe he could follow his footsteps in the sand to get back. He stared at the sand beneath his feet to find nothing. Sand, stones, some seaweed, but no tracks. Not even a single shoe print.

Whatever hope Takato had sank away. Feeling helpless, Takato fell backwards onto the ground. He was lost and, worst yet, had no way of returning home. What was he going to do? In a frenzied panic, Takato wailed into the air: "HELP!"

* * *

The next morning Davis and Kari were walking to school together, since they lived fairly near each other. Kari was able to push her worries to the back of her mind, chatting with Davis. The two were soon joined by TK, Yolei and Iori. Ken lived in Tamachi, so they'd meet up with him at the school.

"I think, if we still haven't a word from Tai on Saturday evening, some of us could go to Tokyo University on Sunday morning and find out whether he's coming," TK suggested.

"And if we have to, we'll drag him to the reunion!" Davis declared with a grin, punching his fist into the air excitedly. He earned sighs from everyone except Kari, who appreciated the thought.

"We could, Davis, if we wanted to get arrested for kidnapping," Yolei teased. The two at once started bickering, but Kari put a stop to it.

"Stop arguing already! I doubt we can do that, but thanks anyway, Davis."

"Davish!" came a muffled lispy voice from the backpack.

Swinging the backpack to his front, Davis scolded the owner of the voice: "DemiVeemon! How many times do I have to tell you, stay quiet if you wanna come to school." Everybody else, even Kari, grinned. Davis' partner didn't like being apart from the goggle-head for even a day. The others' Digimon were more patient, but still liked staying near their partners. So, the DigiDestined had agreed to keep their Digimon at the top of the school while they were at lessons, letting the digital creatures to have plenty of space to play in.

"Davish, I'm hungry!" DemiVeemon said, sticking his head out of the backpack.

"But you just ate!" Davis exclaimed. He looked up from his partner's puppy-dog eyes with an exasperated sigh, and noticed Takato at the other side of the road. His new friend was staring at DemiVeemon in shock.

Takato came towards them to have a closer look, failing to notice the traffic. _A Digimon? How did Davis get one? Is he a Tamer too?_

TK suddenly saw something from the corner of his eye. "LOOK OUT!" he shouted.

"Wha–?" Takato was cut off by the blare of a truck, and he turned to see it was coming right at him. Paralyzed with fear, he shut his eyes and waited for the impact that would never come.

The driver of the car clambered out, asking: "You okay? Wait, what?!" He had slammed on his breaks, a little too late and had hit Takato. Only he hadn't hit Takato. Just when the car should have sent him into the air, he disappeared. He had left nothing behind except for his backpack.

Everyone who had witnessed the incident was stunned. A small crowd gathered around the skid marks where the backpack and its contents lay scattered across the street. A thin, black mist crept around the contents of the bag and where Takato had stood moments ago. Nobody knew where that mist came from or why it was black. But Kari and TK knew that mist. They had seen it before, hoping to never see it again. It was the mist of the Dark Ocean.

* * *

Takato hadn't been able to remember how, but he had somehow wound up back in front of the bakery last night. He hadn't felt happy though. He had felt more glum than when his parents' car had purred off from the front of the old house/bakery of their old neighbourhood.

Now here he was again, at this strange dark beach. Takato was lying on his back as he shivered weakly, unable to bare the frost bitten temperatures that stung his body. He tried to sit up, wanting to wrap his arms around himself to keep himself warm, but found his whole body refused to move. Upon further inspection, Takato realized there was something that was squeezing him tightly, constricting him to the ground he was on. He wriggled and tried vainly to kick his legs in the air. Much to his dismay, it proved to be a futile effort.

It was then that Takato became aware of how wet his shoes had become. A quick glance down told him all he needed to know. The tide was coming in and the water was rising. If he did not free himself soon, he would drown in the icy waters.

Wriggling and kicking furiously, Takato took off on his race against time to save his life. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting his bonds, exhaustion set in and Takato finally gave up. Lying backwards on the ground, Takato gazed up wearily at the pale sky. As his mind slowly drifted off into the elegant bliss of unconsciousness, he whimpered: "Guilmon... help..."

**To be continued…**

* * *

Hi, folks! Hope ya enjoy this and the next episode of Takato's Fate.

Just in case people forgot, I don't own the overall plot and most of the story belongs to the writers of Takato's Light.


	4. Episode 4: The Dark Ocean

**The Dark Ocean**

Kari, Ken, TK, Iori, Yolei and Davis were gathered inside the library during their lunch period. Kari was holding a backpack in her lap, hugging it to her chest as if it were a child. It was Takato's backpack, which she had grabbed earlier before anyone thought to look inside for any clues about the owner. Lost in thought, Kari tried to find some cause for the sudden bout of worry she was feeling._ I guess it's genuine concern,_ she thought.

Bringing herself back into the reality, she heard TK state: "There's no doubt about it. It really was the Dark Ocean."

"Are you sure?" Ken asked no one in particular. He hadn't had the chance to see the others until now.

"Yeah. I thought only Kari and Ken are affected by it," Davis said.

"It was definitely the Ocean," TK answered. He had been there once to save Kari, so he knew that place when he saw its mist.

"I felt it," Kari added quietly. "It was awful."

Ken nodded stiffly, a worried look on his face. The Dark Ocean brought up some memories of his time as the Digimon Emperor. Yolei rubbed his back assuringly and hugged him. "Don't worry, Ken."

"A certain possibility comes to my mind," the former genius said, drawing everyone's attention, "This is just a theory, but I think that whatever Takato was feeling may have been what drew the Dark Ocean to him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Davis demanded rather loudly, "That makes no sense!"

The librarian gave him a loud shush and scowled. "Keep your voices down or I'll send you kids to the principal."

Davis put his hands together, bowed and apologetically said: "Sorry." The librarian gave him a quizzical look before dismissing it and returning to a stack of books she was replacing on the shelves. Everyone waited silently for a moment, just to be safe before Davis quietly asked: "So how did that happen?"

"Well, when I first went to the Dark Ocean it was because of my brother's death," Ken explained, "And then it pulled me in there again, along with Kari and Yolei, because of my guilt as the Digimon Emperor and Kari's encounters with the Scubamon. I think the Dark Ocean got Takato for a similar reason."

"So Takato must have been extremely worried or depressed about something," Iori said, getting affirmative nods from Ken and TK.

"Well, he needs help, so it's settled," Davis said, "Let's go behind the school right now." Davis shot off his chair and pumped his fist into the air. "We're going to go save Takato."

This earned him another shush from the librarian, followed by a second warning, "This is your last warning! One more time and you six will be speaking with the principal."

Once again, Davis quickly apologized before turning to his friends. "Let's head out."

"Yeah!" DemiVeemon said from the goggle-head's backpack.

Davis got up from his chair and swung it over his shoulder as TK said: "Hang on. I don't think we should rush into this, we still have other things to worry about."

"Takato's in trouble and you're worried about homework?" the leader of the group said exasperatedly, "Come on, TK, I thought you would be a little more concerned about a friend in need."

"I am worried, Davis," TK said defensively. He wore an angry, yet serious look on his face that made the goggle-head settle back into his seat and quietly twiddle his thumbs. Sighing dejectedly, TK continued: "But in case you've forgotten, there is no portal to the Dark Ocean." He stopped himself, throwing a worried look at both Ken and Kari before adding: "I don't think Ken or Kari should come either."

"What? TK–," the DigiDestined of Light began to argue only to be cut off by Ken.

"I agree with TK on this one. We all know what happened the last time the two of us were there."

"So you want us to wait here while they go and rescue Takato by themselves?" Kari asked demandingly, pointing an accusing finger at her other four friends.

Ken nodded. "It is the safest route. I don't like it either, Kari, but you and I are more vulnerable to its effects than they are. We'd probably just slow them down."

"I'm not going to just sit back here and do nothing, Ken," Kari argued angrily, grinding her teeth. Still holding onto Takato's backpack, she stomped off, leaving her own backpack behind with her confused friends.

A white cat's head popped out from inside the red backpack. "Kari…" Gatomon, Kari's partner, said with her ears drooping.

Davis got up from his seat, declaring: "Lets just ditch school and go now. Saving a friend from an evil dimension was more important than studying maths and stuff."

"But Davis, we don't even know how to get into the Dark Ocean," Yolei remarked, rolling her eyes.

Davis frowned. "Oh right...wait, then how did Ken and Kari get there?"

"It pulled us there, remember?" Ken pointed out. "We didn't go of our own freewill and it's not like we wanted to be there in the first place."

"But..." TK began quietly, "There was one time when Kari was able to pull me, Gatomon and Patamon to the Dark Ocean."

"Interesting," Ken murmured quietly, "Perhaps we can use this to our advantage."

"What do you mean?" Yolei asked.

"Lets go find Kari."

* * *

Kari waited outside at the back of the school, waiting anxiously for the others to arrive. As much as she hated the idea of being left behind, she didn't want to go to the Dark Ocean alone, especially without Gatomon. But despite this, she was determined to do whatever it took to save Takato.

Yet she couldn't explain why. What was compelling her to do this? She didn't actually like Takato, she hardly even knew him. It was too creepy. And yet, she couldn't deny that she felt some level of comfort around him. _There is also something strange about the comforting smile I saw on his face yesterday. There seemed to be a strong reassurance that everything would be alright._

Kari paused for a moment, almost sure that there was a surprised look on her face. _I do like Takato...no, it's a mistake. I can't like a guy I hardly know. It's just my teenage hormones going crazy and nothing more. Yeah, that must be it._

Soon the others arrived. "So how do we plan on getting to the Dark Ocean?" Iori inquired, looking at Ken. He didn't like ditching school, but it was too late to go back now.

Not answering, Ken turned to TK: "TK, can you take us to the place where you were taken to the Dark Ocean?"

"Umm, sure, okay," TK said. With that, their group took off with TK in the lead.

* * *

Takato had lost all hope. The water had long gone over his head and only the tip of his nose stuck up above. Taking what last gasps of breath he had, Takato's mind ran across every last thing he would never be able to see again:

_My loving parents. I hated them for their sudden decision to move and just gave the cold shoulder..._

_The Tamers. Henry, Rika, Ryo, Kazu, Kenta, Suzie, Ai and Mako. I'm glad to call them my friends..._

_The love of my life..._

If these were to be Takato's last moments, he had just one wish: To see Jeri's smile one more time. To feel her lips against his own. To hold her close and never let go. That was all...

The water had finally risen above his nose, robbing him of any air. Holding on to his last breath of fresh air, Takato prayed for a miracle. But one could only spend so much time under water, holding their breath. He could already feel the stabbing sensation building up in his lungs. The pain was too great and Takato opened his mouth to relieve himself of the pain, desperately gasping for air but only receiving a mouth and lungful of water. Slowly, Takato's world faded into darkness.

* * *

"So this is the place?" Ken asked, looking up and down the sandy beach. TK nodded.

"This is it. It's where I saw Kari before I ended up in the Dark Ocean."

"Are you going to tell us what's going on, Ken?" Davis finally asked.

"I think this beach is connected to the Dark Ocean, much like how Highton View Terrace is connected to the Digital World," his best friend replied.

"So you think we can find a trace of Takato around here?" Kari asked quietly, still clutching the missing boy's bag. Ken nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Davis said. He took off without so much a glance back and didn't stop running.

Yolei, who should have learned to ignore the younger boy's cocky antics by that point, took chase after him. "HEY! WAIT!"

Dumbstruck, their Digimon partners scrambled out of the backpacks that had been dumped on the sand, and ran after them. The rest of their gang followed after the comedy duo down the long stretch of the beach. They hadn't walked for long before they caught up with them. The two humans and two In-Training Digimon were staring with wide eyes into the water, frozen in their place.

"What are you looking at?"" Iori asked, as he was the first to finally catch up with them. He turned to see what they were staring at, and all of the DigiDestined ran out into the water.

They saw Takato lying in the water. Behind her, Kari could hear the splashes of water coming from Ken and TK. Iori, Davis and Yolei grabbed Takato's pale form, tied up in ropes, and were dragging it closer to shore. DemiVeemon digivolved to Veemon so he could help. Likewise, Poromon digivolved to Hawkmon while Upamon digivolved to Armadillomon.

Kari felt a cold chill run down her spine. Dismissing it as nothing more than hypothermia, she slowly made her way back onto the beach. As she got closer, she noticed something was wrong.

A strange mist had settled in and the sky had grown cloudy, filling with a swirl of white and gray storm clouds. She also noticed that the air had grown colder and heavier, weighing down on her chest. All the happiness sank out of her being, as colour faded away into dull shades of gray. Her heart sank when she realized what was going on.

They were in the Dark Ocean. The heart of all evil in the world. Panicking, she ran straight for the shore line. Behind her, she heard the others finally drag Takato's limp form onto the beach.

"He's not breathing!" Yolei gasped, starting to panic. "He's not breathing!"

"We're not too late, are we?" Iori asked quietly.

"He needs CPR!" Ken stated.

With feigned heroism, Davis proudly declared: "Okay I got this!" He paused for a moment, thinking carefully about what he had said before correcting himself: "How do you do CPR?"

Everyone sighed exasperatedly before Kari said: "I'll do it." She sank to Takato sighed and examined carefully. Remembering her lesson from Health, she straightened Takato's body and lifted his chin to open his airway. She then put the palms of her hands over his chest and pushed down, counting the compressions, "One...Two...Three..."

Once she got to fifteen, she stopped and watched his chest. Nothing. She really didn't hope she would have to do the next step. She paused hesitantly, worried about the next step. She just had to breathe into his mouth. That was it. Nothing more. It wasn't like it was a kiss or anything.

In a sudden act of boldness, she parted his lips, pinched his nose closed, and blew into his mouth twice. Nothing. He still wasn't breathing. She went back to the compressions, pushing down fifteen times. Again, nothing. He didn't even breathe once. Moving back to his mouth, she repeated the breathes, blowing harder into his mouth than before. Immediately water shot into her mouth and down her throat. Pulling her mouth off of his, Takato coughed up water. Rolling over onto his side, he looked up at Kari dreamily and whimpered: "Jeri?"

Then he passed back into unconsciousness. Confused, Kari had only one question on her mind: _Who was Jeri and, more importantly, why did he call her that?_ Disregarding his comment as delusion, Kari smiled weakly. At least she knew Takato was okay and that warmed her frigid body.

"PYROSPHERE!" a voice cried, just as a red fireball exploded on the sandy beach that sent everyone clamouring to their feet. A red dinosaur growled at them angrily.

"Who is that?" TK asked.

It was his partner Patamon who offered the explanation: "I don't know. I've never seen this kind of Digimon before."

"GET AWAY FROM TAKATOMON! PYROSPHERE!" it growled before shooting another ball of red fire out of its mouth. This time, it came straight for Kari and she had to dive out of its path to avoid it. As everyone regrouped, they noticed the dinosaur Digimon now stood beside them and Takato. With a lethal tone, it growled: "LEAVE TAKATOMON ALONE!"

There was only one thought on everyone's mind: _Who was this Digimon and what did he want with Takato?_

**To be continued…**

* * *

Yup, a long episode. It's pretty much a slightly shortened version of the original chapter, so apologies that there's nothing new.

PS. Ken's right as to why Takato wound up a the Ocean. The dude's been depressed for days. But there is another reason why Takato was pulled there, and you'll probably figure it in the next episode. Sometime afterwards comes the third reason.


	5. Episode 5: The Warriors

**The Warriors**

"Pyro Sphere!"

"Vee Head-butt!"

"Rock Breaker!"

"Pyro Sphere!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Boom Bubble!"

"Feather Strike!"

"Pyro Sphere!"

"Silk Thread!"

The red dinosaur held its ground against the DigiDestined, even though it was taking one powerful beating from their Digimon. It staggered, struggling to support its own weight. Wormmon, Veemon and Armadillomon fell back alongside their partners while Hawkmon, Patamon and Gatomon circled around it, all of them tired except Gatomon, who was a higher level than her fellow Digimon. Exhausted from the many attempts to force the dinosaur aside, Veemon panted: "He'sh not budging. He'sh more shubborn than you, Davish."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Davis asked with mock anger. They turned their attention back to the strange new Digimon, who was now carrying Takato's unconscious body on its back. With one last breath, it shot a fireball out of its mouth whilst screaming: "Pyro Sphere!"

The fire ball missed the DigiDestined all together though, instead exploding at their feet and kicking a flurry of dirt and sand into the air. Kari closed her eyes and threw her arms up in defence, trying to shield herself from the flurry. Once the dirt and sand cleared, Kari opened her eyes to see nothing.

No Takato. No Digimon. Nothing. Just empty beach scarred from their ferocious battle.

"He got away!" Davis proclaimed with frustration, dislodging his goggles and pulling them on again.

"He can't have gotten far. If we split up, we can still catch him," Ken pointed out.

"Right," Davis said, "Kari, go with Yolei and head back the way we came. I'll go with TK and head the other way. Iori and Ken, check the forest. If you find something, use the D-Terminal to contact the rest of us."

"Right," the others said in unison, before going their separate ways.

Guilmon was running through the forest, Takato still unconscious on his back. The teenager suddenly mumbled something in his sleep: "What's happening to me?"

"Takatomon? Are you okay?" Guilmon asked his partner. He got no reply. Takato seemed to be fast asleep.

* * *

"Where... am I? This has got to be a dream," Takato said. He was floating in... well, it seemed like an enormous white cloud. An endless one that is.

Suddenly, Takato saw what seemed like six children below him. He descended towards them. The closer he got the group, the clearer he saw them. One of the children was thirteen, four of them were twelve and the youngest was nine.

One of the twelve-year-olds was a cocoa haired boy who wore goggles over his backwards worn olive green cap. He had on a short-sleeved red jacket over a yellow T-shirt, green-brown cargo pants, and greenish beige gloves.

Two of the twelve-year-olds were obviously twins. One had his raven hair in a ponytail, while the other one's was short and messy. The long-haired twin wore a bandanna on his head, a blue jacket over a yellow T-shirt, and grey trousers. His brother had on a green short-sleeved jacket over a red shirt, and pale grey trousers.

The only girl of the group was a blond with green eyes. She wore a rose pink hat, a matching short-sleeved jacket over a stripy top, and a matching miniskirt.

The oldest had short-cropped cocoa brown hair, wore a blue jumpsuit, and was taking a bite off a chocolate bar.

The 9-year-old had a pumpkin like cap, a white T-shirt, and yellow cargo pants. He was playing with a Gameboy.

They all were surprised when Takato landed in front of them. The chubby one almost choked on his chocolate, so the goggle-head hit his back to help him cough it out.

"Who are you?" the twin wearing a bandanna asked, clearly suspicious.

"My name is Takato," Takato said.

"Hey, nice to meet ya!" the other goggle-head replied. "My name's Takuya, and Mr Sour face is Koji. These guys are JP, Zoe, Koichi and Tommy." Everyone except Koji smiled at the newcomer.

"Nice to meet you all," Takato said, then took a step back. Zoe, the girl, was a little too close and gazing at him with a dreamy expression, her hands behind her back.

"You sure are cute," she said with a giggle. Takato sweatdropped.

"Leave him be, Z," JP, the oldest, said. "So what are you doing here?"

"I honestly don't know. One minute I'm drowning, the next I see someone who I think was my girlfriend Jeri, and then I'm all of a sudden here." He paused, then asked: "So how do I get out of here?"

"We've been wondering that same thing for years," Takuya said with a grin, as if he wasn't at all worried about never getting out.

"Okay… What have you guys been doing all this time?"

"Living as normal as possible," Koji's twin Koichi replied. He and the others started walking, and Takato followed.

"Eating, sleeping, hanging out, playing games. Koji and Tacky spend half the time arguing," JP said.

"Not my fault!" Takuya protested. "Anyway, all of us have been trying to figure a way out, although all along we knew there isn't one."

"Great," Takato muttered sarcastically. "First that dark world, now this."

"So where are you from?" Zoe asked. "All of us lived in Shibuya, except for when I used to live Italy."

"Shinjuku," Takato replied. "A few days ago I moved to Odaiba coz my parents have for months wanted to expand their bakery business."

"Wow, to live in a bakery and have doughnuts for breakfast, lunch and dinner," JP said, making everyone laugh.

Soon they came across a vending machine standing in the middle of nowhere. Takato noted that it was unplugged, which meant it wasn't going to work. He was proven wrong when Takuya slammed his fist against the first machine and it dropped two cans of orange soda. He slammed his other first, making one more fall. Slamming both fists, Takuya got four more drop down. Each of the youngsters took one, and Tommy offered the last one to Takato. They all drank thirstily.

"Where did the vending machine come from?" Takato asked Zoe.

"No idea," she replied. "We just found it here. Look over there." Takato looked where Zoe pointed, and saw a sofa. "Sofas, soda and snack vending machines, videogames. Those things just appear here every once in a while."

"Probably caused by the Real Worlds' instability during Digimon invasions," Koji muttered.

"What?! You guys know about Digimon?" Takato exclaimed in surprise.

"Duh, because were DigiDestined," Zoe said, "You know about Digimon, so you must be a DigiDestined too. Do you have a partner?"

"Yeah, Guilmon," Takato replied, relaxing and pulling his yellow goggles up a little. He didn't bother to correct her that he was a Digimon Tamer, not a DigiDestined. Takato got nervous when he saw the younger kids trade glances. "What?"

"Could he be... _the one_?" Koichi asked the others, not hearing Takato.

"Maybe. But I'm not so sure. Is Guilmon the Digimon that was made up by a DigiDestined? I thought the Digimon's name is Agumon," JP said.

"I'm sure Guilmon is it," Takuya said. But the uncertainty on his face told otherwise. The other kids shrugged. None of them remembered the details of what they've been told over the past four years.

"Takato seems nice enough," Tommy remarked. "I think he could be the one." The other five nodded in agreement. All DigiDestined had pure hearts, but only the most pure hearted DigiDestined could be _the one_.

Takato was getting irritated. "Not to be rude, but what are you all talking about?" The six looked at him. From their faces he could tell they had forgotten he was standing right there. Koichi smiled apologetically.

"Sorry. You see–" He was cut off by Zoe's horrified scream.

"OH MY GOSH!" The others noticed what was wrong. Takato was starting to fade!

"He has to be the one!" Koichi said.

"Yeah. The Sovereigns said no-one else could come here in spirit," JP said, all doubt gone.

Not listening to the two boys, Takato looked at his hands – and saw, to his alarm, that he could see right through them. "What's happening to me?"

"Don't worry, you're gonna be fine," Takuya said, "I think…"

"You think?!"

"Way to go, goggle-head, you're making him panic," Koji said in annoyance.

"Do you think we will see him again?" Tommy asked his friends. The older boys shook their heads while Zoe looked a little down. Tommy then went to Takato and gave him a hug. "Goodbye…"

And the next thing Takato knew, he was slowly opening his eyes.

Takato lifted his head and saw that he was on Guilmon's back. He raised his hand to pat his partner's head, when he thought about his apparent dream. _That was the weirdest experience I've ever had, and that's saying a lot considering my adventures. _Takato pulled at his yellow wristband and let it snap back on his wrist. _Nope, I'm not dreaming anymore._

Guilmon pricked his ears. He looked over his shoulder at his partner and exclaimed in joy: "Takatomon!"

Guilmon stopped running and let Takato down. The teenager stood up and glanced around. He saw he was in some kind of a dark forest. "Probably another part of that dark world," he muttered. Then he noticed the scratches Guilmon had. "What happened to you, buddy?"

"Takato was being attacked, so I fought them off and ran away with Takato," Guilmon said, nuzzling his head against Takato's stomach. Takato patted him again.

Suddenly, Takato and Guilmon heard a far-away scream: "NO!"

_Was that… Kari?_ Takato wondered. He ran to the direction he assumed the scream must have come from. Guilmon ran by his partner's side.

"We gotta get there quick!" Takato said. He brought out his gold-rimmed D-power from under his grey hoodie and cupped it in his right hand, raising it above his head. He took a card from his blue jeans' pocket and slashed it through the slot. "Digimodify! Speed Activate!"

With Takato climbing on his back, Guilmon burst running faster than he normally could, getting back to the beach quickly. Takato clambered off the dinosaur's back and stood up.

Looking to his left, he saw Kari, Yolei and two small Digimon running away from some strange dark creature. Takato started running towards them, followed by Guilmon.

"Kari, Yolei! I'll handle that weirdo!" Takato shouted. He swiped a card though his D-power. "Digimodify! WarGeymon's Brave Shield Activate!"

A shield identical to the one Agumon's Mega form had appeared on Guilmon's back. He took it off and stood it on the ground. "Go behind that shield!" Takato ordered. The girls did as he said, grabbing their partners and collapsing on the ground behind the shield. It would protect them from any blows coming their way.

From behind the shield, Kari gazed at Takato. Not the same way as someone who thinks a person is cute or wonderful, but with a feeling she had never felt before.

"Guilmon, use your attacks quickly after each other until that thing is down! First Rock Breaker and then Pyro Sphere!" Takato ordered, standing a little way in front of the Brave Shield. Guilmon obeyed. The attack combination made the shadowy creature fall on its back after only one try.

"Hey, you guys!" Davis' shouts came. Takato and the girls turned and saw the four boys running towards them with their Digimon partners. As soon as they came to Takato's side, Davis said: "Okay, lets help that dinosaur. Veemon?"

"Vee Head-butt!" Veemon charged and slammed his head on the creature's middle.

Takato swiped one more card. "Digimodify! Aerial Wings Activate!" A pair of silvery-white wings appeared on Guilmon's back, and he rose a little in the air. "Guilmon! Carry that freak to the ocean and drop it."

The creature hurriedly got up for the second time and dashed forwards, grabbing Takato's arm. It started to pull him in the ocean, saying: "Come with me, oh powerful one. Your power is greater than the power of Light. Stay with us... forever."

It was after Takato all along? Kari thought, watching in too much shock to move. Yolei rushed forward and kicked the creature to force it to let go of Takato.

"Forget it!" Ken said.

"You're not taking him anywhere!" Davis shouted.

The two teenage boys grabbed Takato and pulled him away from the creature. Guilmon hurriedly took it and carried it to the ocean, then dropped it with a cheery "bye-bye".

On his way back, Guilmon's wings vanished as usual. (The shield had vanished already.) He fell in the water with a splash, and at once Takato raced into the ocean to help him up. When Guilmon stood leaning slightly forwards, the goggle-head patted his head. "Good job, boy. Huh? What's wrong?"

Guilmon had suddenly tensed up and was glaring at the DigiDestined. "It's them! The ones who tried to hurt Takato!"

"_What?_ Guys, is that true?"

"What?" TK said, "Of course not! We saved you from drowning!"

"If anything, he's the one who tried to hurt you," Davis said, "He attacked you and ran off as soon as we got you breathing again!"

Guilmon growled fiercely, showing his sharp teeth. "That's a lie!" he shouted, "You were trying to hurt Takatomon!"

"What?" Yolei exclaimed. Takato sighed, realising it was just a misunderstanding. Yolei pointed her finger at Kari and said: "You weren't breathing when we pulled you out of the water so Kari here resuscitated you!"

"Resuscitated me..." Takato's voice wavered.

Kari's face reddened. _Why did Yolei have to point that out? Takato doesn't need to know that. It wasn't like the others wouldn't have done the same thing if I wasn't around. _Takato was looking at her now with a mixed look of awe and sorrow. Like a sudden realization had shattered his hopes.

"It's okay, Guilmon," Takato said, "They're DigiDestined."

"DigiDestined?" the dinosaur asked.

Takato nodded. "Yeah, like me. Those Digimon with them are their partners."

Guilmon looked from Takato to each of the DigiDestined in turn, stepped forward and started sniffing Iori before smiling. "Okay... they smell like Digimon too."

"Okay, then. Now what do you guys say we get out of this place?" Davis said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

Takato stared out of his bedroom window. Guilmon was sleeping soundly on his mattress under Takato's bed. Takato was far too preoccupied with his own thoughts to think of sleeping. His parents had scolded him when he got home, far from warm welcome but better than none. Apparently, a whole day went by while he was in that world of darkness.

Takato explained what had happened to his parents, who were wary in believing it until Guilmon came into the picture. They had hoped all the Digimon nonsense was over when the D-Reaper was defeated by the Tamers. Takato had thought the same as well. _Was someone trying to drown me, to get rid of me? Why did I end up at that dark place? Is the Digital World in trouble again? I hope not. Because I don't want any more on my plate than I already have with the move and the new school and missing Jeri._

_I can't believe I mistook Kari for Jeri! How could I? Maybe I was just delusional from being under water for so long. Yeah. That has to be it. There is no other explanation._ But there was something unsatisfactory with the one he wanted to believe. Some kind of inkling that told him it would be a lie to himself if he chose to accept it as truth. Not that he thought Kari was unattractive. By all means, she was pretty but she didn't compare to Jeri. At least, not in Takato's eyes.

But Takato still couldn't shake that feeling that there was something missing to that. Maybe he was just being grateful. After all, she had resuscitated him. But why her? Then again, would he have preferred one of the boys to do it? Images of TK, Davis, Iori and Ken puckering their lips flashed through his mind. He shook his head furiously. _Yep, I definitely preferred Kari over them._

Takato sighed, going up the ladder of his bed and collapsing, laying on his back. An image of Kari smiling at him appeared in his head. _Why can't I get her out of my head?_

**To be continued...**

* * *

Some of this epsidoe, in case you didn't realise belongs to writers of Takato's Light.

In case you didn't realise, the second reason Takato wound up at the Dark Ocean is because the Scubamon wanted him, just like how in ep. 13 of 02 they pulled Kari there. By the way, the Warriors never met an Agumon as far as I know, so that's why I made JP think Agumon was the unique Digimon.


	6. Episode 6: Befriending the DigiDestined

**Befriending the DigiDestined**

"Attention, students! This is a reminder that school uniforms have been reinstated by the school district! Disciplinary action will be taken against all students not in uniform. This has been an announcement by the Odaiba High News Club!"

The school's PA system clicked off just as the rush of students poured into school. Most of them sported the school's green blazer, gray slacks and white blouse. The few who didn't wore sullen faces. Standing near the school entrance, Takato was glad he had remembered that the uniform had to be worn from this day onwards. Otherwise he would have showed up like Davis, who stared at everyone with a clueless expression.

"Hey, you guys! What's going on?" Davis asked.

"We're supposed to start wearing our school uniforms, remember?" TK said, smirking.

"That was today?" Davis asked. Takato did his best to hold in a snort of laughter, and saw Iori, Kari and TK stifle their laughs to avoid annoying the other goggle-head. Davis slapped himself on the forehead and groaned: "Oh man, this is going to suck so bad."

"Hey, guys!" Yolei greeted them. Like Kari, she was wearing the girls' high school uniform – a green sailor uniform with a matching green skirt and a blue scarf. Beside her was Ken, also in school uniform although it was more neatly kept than those of his peers. The couple walked arm in arm towards their friends, both wearing cheerful expressions.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised Davis forgot about the uniforms," Yolei said teasingly, poking her friend's arm.

"Yeah, yeah." The goggle-head waved them off, saying sarcastically: "What's the worse they can do? Ooh, detention, I'm so scared!"

"Will see about that when detention comes around," Yolei joked. "Anyway, I gotta go before I'll be late for class. Bye, Ken!" She gave her boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek and walked off. Iori went to his class too.

"Hey, lover-boy! You owe me a one-on-one soccer match, remember?" Davis said. Ken nodded.

"Looking forward to kicking your butt for the millionth time," he replied with a small grin. TK and Kari snickered, remembering how Davis always lost to Ken. The boy might not be a genius anymore, but he still was by far the smartest and most athletically talented in the group.

"In your dreams!" the goggle-head retorted, grinning.

Takato watched them, leaning on a tree with his hands in his pockets. It had been two days since he wound up at that strange dark place, and he had been avoiding the DigiDestined since then. He didn't want to explain that he was a Digimon Tamer and was afraid of the DigiDestined asking him to be in their group.

The bell rang, and Takato went to his chemistry class. He took a window seat, staring out of the window dreamily. Kari's face appeared in his head, making Takato smile then frown a little. _Why am I thinking about _her_? I should be thinking about Jeri!_

To his dismay, Davis, TK, Kari and Ken were in the same class as him. Davis took a seat next to his newest friend, while TK and Ken took the places in front of the two goggle-heads. Kari sat behind Takato.

"Hi, Takato!" Davis greeted the chocolate-haired teenager, slapping him on the back. "So… Where's your partner?"

"At home, probably raiding the fridge," Takato replied with a bored voice. He didn't want to talk to the DigiDestined.

"Mine and the others' are at the school's roof. They won't mind having a new friend to play with, especially DemiVeemon."

"I guess I can let Guilmon there. He'd like company. Can anyone show me the way?"

"I will," Kari said, smiling. Takato smiled nervously and fidgeted a little, unnoticed by the DigiDestined.

"Err… it'll have to be done really early, coz Guilmon's pretty big and can't de-digivolve to In-Training level."

"No problem. How about we meet up at the school gate at 7:15 in the morning?"

"'K. Thanks, I guess."

The chemistry teacher came in and all the teenagers turned their attention to the board. Takato let out a gasp, startling his new friends.

"What's wrong?" Kari asked with a whisper. She didn't see anything strange about the teacher, who had taught her and the rest of the class for a year already.

Takato didn't reply. He was staring at the teacher, who was blond and wore a suit and black sunglasses that covered his eyes. Although Takato didn't see them, he knew the man's eyes must be grey.

_No freaking way! What's Yamaki doing here?_ he thought. He couldn't listen to a word Mr Mitsuo said, too shocked that the leader of the organization called Hypnos, which was destroyed four years ago thanks to the D-reaper, was in his school. He and the other Tamers hadn't heard anything from the man – who had first been their enemy but had turned out to be a fairly good friend – since the incident with the Locomon that involved a Parasimon attack.

After class, Takato forgot all about trying to avoid the DigiDestined. He marched up to the teacher, thinking the man might be Yamaki's twin. "Uhh… Sir? Your first name's Yamaki, isn't it?"

"Yes, Takato. As you've known for the past four years, that's my name," Yamaki replied dully.

"What are you doing in this school?"

"Teaching. Since there has been peace for three and half years, I decided to take up a new career last year. By the way, Takato, you didn't pay any attention to this lesson, did you?"

Takato's face flushed red. "I– I was just wondering what you were doing here."

"Then pay attention to the lessons I give. You can think about that in detention today. And here's a little assignment for you since you took the privilege to not learn anything today." Yamaki handed Takato a sheet of paper. "I expect it done by Monday, or it's detention again."

"Yes, sir," Takato replied. He walked out and hurried to his next class. _So Yamaki's my teacher now, huh? Just fantastic. I bet I'll end in detention every day. He's stricter than Miss Asaji!_

When Takato turned the corner, he literally bumped onto Davis and Ken. "Sorry," he said, and tried to rush off.

"Wait a sec!" Davis said, grabbing the other goggle-head's arm. "Wanna join us for lunch? I want to know more about that card thing you did."

"Sure, whatever. I gotta go before I get more detention. Bye."

* * *

"Where did you get your digivice?"

"And what's it called. Ours are D3s, but there also are little pale blue ones that are the original DigiDestined's."

"That card thing was so cool! How do you do it?"

"Where did you get those cards anyway?"

"Did you make them yourself?"

"How did you meet Guilmon?"

"Was he a Champion when you met him?"

"What's his Rookie form?"

"Can you teach us how to use those cards?"

"Uhh…" Takato wore a blank expression. He had barely sat down, and two of the DigiDestined were already firing questions at him.

"Our apologies for that. Davis, Yolei, could you two ease off with the questions?" Iori said.

Davis leaned back on his chair, clasping his hands behind his head. "Lets start with telling how we got our digivices. I, Yolei and Iori got ours when Kari's brother Tai touched the Digiegg of Courage."

"Digiegg of Courage? What's that?"

"It's completely different from normal Digimon's Digieggs. It allows Veemon to armour digivolve."

_Armour digivolve? Where have I heard that before? Nah, must be my imagination._ "So, Kari's brother has that… Digiegg of Courage?"

"Nope. It's mine, actually. I also have the Digiegg of Friendship and the Golden Digiegg of Miracles," Davis said a little smugly. "A good friend of mine in America has the Golden Digiegg of Destiny."

"I have the Digieggs of Love and Sincerity," Yolei added.

"And mine are Knowledge and Reliability," Iori said.

"When Kari and I found our Digieggs – mine's Hope and hers is Light – our digivices turned into D3s," TK told.

"What about you, Ken?" Takato asked, getting interested. _It's not too bad to hang with them. At least there's someone I can to about Digimon._

"I don't have a Digiegg, but I don't mind," the former genius relied. "My digivice turned into a D3 when I ended up at the Dark Ocean when I was ten. That's the dark place you ended up on Tuesday, by the way."

Ken, Kari and even Takato shivered when they remembered that place. Takato was rather surprised that the Dark Ocean was now such a living nightmare to him. The only real nightmare he had ever experienced was when Guilmon dark digivolved.

"So, how did you get your digivice?" Davis asked.

"Well, it happened when I was eleven. I found a blue card and swiped it through my card reader. Sparks flew and later I saw my card reader turn into my D-power." Takato decided not to add that his original red D-power broke when he made his partner dark digivolve.

"Cool. What about the cards?" TK said.

"These," Takato said, bringing his deck from his blazer pocket, "are Digimon Card Game cards. With them, I can help Guilmon fight. Give him boosts and items, and make him digivolve to Champion level. He's actually a Rookie."

"A Rookie? But he's so big!" Yolei exclaimed. Takato couldn't help grinning at her reaction.

"Yeah. But he really is a Rookie, and he's not that big if he's not standing up straight."

"I still think he's too big for a Rookie."

"Whatever. Just drop it, Yolei," Davis said.

"Where did you get those cards, Takato?" Kari asked.

A tiny hint of colour came to Takato's cheeks when he remembered she had promised to help him get Guilmon to the school's roof tomorrow. No-one except TK noticed. _Boy, Takato must be crushing on Kari. Can't blame him though..._

TK recalled the time a few months ago when he and Kari were dating. They had liked each other a lot and had been very happy. But then Kari had started to feel that maybe they shouldn't date, as TK was almost like a brother to her. TK felt the same, but neither said anything in fear of hurting the other. Then an argument revealed what they were feeling. So they had agreed to break up, remaining as close friends.

"From stores," Takato said in reply to Kari's question. "These can be found from just regular supermarkets, and there are also stores that sell all sorts of Digimon stuff, including cards and games."

"Stores?" Iori asked. "You mean Digimon are merchandise?"

"Yeah. Haven't any of you ever noticed?" The DigiDestined shook their heads. "Strange. Back in Shinjuku, they're really popular. Have been for years."

"Exactly how long?" Ken asked, frowning.

"I dunno. About 20, I guess."

"20 years?! But Myotismon invaded Odaiba seven years ago! How can anyone know about Digimon before that?" Yolei cried out.

"What are you talking about?" Takato asked.

"During my and the rest of the original DigiDestined's first adventure seven years ago, an evil Digimon named Myotismon made a weird fog that sort of cut this part of Odaiba form the rest of Tokyo," TK explained. "He wanted to get rid of Kari because she was the eighth DigiDestined."

Takato clenched his fists under the table at the thought of someone hurting Kari, but his face showed confusion. "I never heard anything about it As far as I know, Digimon started appearing in the Real World for the very first time four years ago, in Shinjuku only. A few of the appearances were shown on the news."

"What?! We knew nothing about that!" Davis exclaimed. "As far as we're concerned, the only time Digimon appeared in the Real World four years ago was at Christmas when they were after Ken."

"Huh? I knew nothing about _that_," Takato said.

"This is very strange," Ken mused. "How come we knew nothing about the merchandise or the Digimon appearing in Shinjuku? And why don't you know anything about what happened at Christmas?" Yolei nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. I didn't know anything about the invasion until Kari and TK told us since it wasn't even all that big, but that Christmas thing was all over the news. Even if none of us would have been there, we would have heard about it sooner or later."

"This just doesn't make any sense," TK said. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Anyway, lunch is almost over. What do you guys say we meet up at my place after school and figure this out?"

"Yeah! And Takato can teach us how to play that card game, right buddy?" Davis said, grinning at the other goggle-head. Takato nodded with a smile, deciding he might as well enjoy the company.

* * *

When Takato got out of detention, he saw TK stand at the lockers, talking to a few of his friends with Kari standing next to him. He noticed Takato and called him over: "Hey, Takato!"

"Hi," Takato replied, walking towards them.

"These guys are in my basketball team. They want to know if you play."

"No, not really. I'm not very athletic."

"Neither was I, but I still got in the team. Now I'm the fastest player," one of the boys said.

"Yeah. You should totally try out," another put in.

"I guess…" Takato shrugged. "But I don't really have time coz I have to help out my parents at their bakery. Anyway, I gotta go." He turned and walked off. When Takato was at the school gate, he was surprised to find TK and Kari catch up to him.

"You're not a fan of sports, huh?" TK asked, placing a hand on Takato's shoulder.

"Not really. I don't mind a game now and then, but that's pretty much it. I'm more into art."

"Cool. Can we see some of your work?"

"Sure. Here's one I always have with me," Takato said, grinning. He showed them the picture of Guilmon he drew years ago, which had been scanned by his digivice to form Guilmon's egg.

"It's Guilmon," Kari said, "And a good picture too. Can you draw one of my partner in my physics book? She's Gatomon."

"Hi there," Gatomon said, popping her head out of Kari's backpack. "Guilmon's lucky that he doesn't fit in a backpack. It's stuffy in here. Poor Patamon and DemiVeemon and Wormmon have to suffer their partners' stinky sports socks' smell."

The three humans laughed. Patamon came out of TK's backpack. "Pee-yoo! TK, you gotta put your socks in a separate bag if you have gym."

"All right, Patamon," the blond replied. "Takato, you can bring Guilmon to my place if you want. My mom knows about Digimon, so it's no problem."

"Really? My parents know about Digimon being real too. I figured I'd tell them when I went to the Digital World."

"We all told our families after Christmas," Kari said, "Some of them already knew, while Yolei and Davis chose not to tell their parents at all. Apparently, Davis' parents would have a fit if they knew that he's been fighting giant monsters, while Yolei's wouldn't like the thought of food from their grocery store going into the mouth of a creature from another world."

Everyone grinned at the thought of how Yolei's and Davis' parents might react, and Takato enjoyed the company. They all chatted on the way to the apartment complex Takato lived in.

* * *

"Takatomon, I'm hungry!" Guilmon complained as the three humans and three Digimon arrived at the apartment door that read 'Takaishi'.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we have something for you to eat," TK said, opening the door. "Mum! I brought friends over!"

"That's nice, dear," Nancy Takaishi replied, coming from the kitchen with a coffee mug. "Oh! Another DigiDestined?"

"Yes," TK replied.

_No,_ Takato thought, fixing a polite smile and bowing slightly. "Good afternoon, ma'am. My name's Takato and this is Guilmon."

"Such good manners! Nice to meet you," Nancy replied.

They all turned their attention to the slightly open door of TK's room as a flash of light came from it. An 18-year-old boy, obviously TK's brother, came from the room holding a small Digimon called Tsunomon.

"Hi, Matt! Tsunomon!" TK said happily, doing a high five with his brother while their mum gave Matt a hug.

"Hiya, little bro. So, this is the goggle-head I've heard of. Is he as soccer mad as Tai and Davis?" Matt said, holding a hand to the newcomer. "My name's Yamato Ishida, but you can call me Matt."

"Uhh… Hi. My name's Takato and this is Guilmon," Takato replied, shaking Matt's hand.

"Our parents divorced years ago. Matt grew up with our dad while Mum took care of me," TK explained about the surnames. "He's been living in America for a few weeks, thanks to his rock career. What are you doing here anyways, Matt? I thought you couldn't make it to the reunion."

"I got lucky. Kenji and Tatsuya didn't, though. They got down with a nasty flu and have to rest for a few days. Doctor's orders."

"Hey, Guilmon, lets play!" Tsunomon said in In-Training Digimon's usual playful demeanour. Guilmon replied with a "yay!", and the two started rushing about in the apartment, joined by Patamon. Gatomon just watched in amusement.

"Guilmon! Don't break anything!" Takato ordere, and at once a vase was about to ended up on the floor thanks to Guilmon accidentally bumping onto the coffee table. Takato rushed forward and grabbed the vase, placing it back on the coffee table. "Sorry, Miss Takaishi."

"It's fine. I replaced our old vase with a plastic one, so there's no worry about it getting broken."

Nancy went into the kitchen while the teenagers and Gatomon headed into TK's room. They sat on the floor, and Takato brought out all of his card decks, which he had brought from home. He started teaching the others how to play, and even Matt and Gatomon joined in.

An hour later the doorbell rang and Davis' voice could be heard greeting Nancy: "Hi, Miss Takaishi!" He came into the room with DemiVeemon on his head, followed by Ken, Yolei and Iori who carried their partners. "No fair! You guys started without us!"

"Because you had a lesson more than us," TK retorted, standing up.

"It's still not fair, TC!" The two started bickering, much to the others' amusement.

Guilmon, Patamon and Tsunomon seemed to choose that moment to barge into the room, pushing the four on the doorway onto the floor. "Takato, these guys are fun!" Guilmon giggled.

"Guilmon, just sit down," Takato said, sweatdropping when his partner noticed DemiVeemon and the two started playing together as if they were best friends. Patamon, Tsunomon, Poromon and Upamon joined in the fun. There was quite a chaos in the room, with five small and one large Digimon rushing about. Takato's eyebrow twitched. He was getting very annoyed.

"STOP IT!" he shouted, standing up. The Digimon froze, and the humans looked at Takato. He got nervous, embarrassed of his outburst.

"Thanks for getting some order here, Takato," Matt said.

"Anyway, when's that TV show about Digimon start?" Davis asked.

Takato glanced at the clock on the wall. "Right now, actually."

Half an hour later, everyone was sitting in the living room. The ending theme of the show called 'Digimon Digital Monsters' was going on as the end credits flew on the screen accompanied by the show's starts, a goggles-wearing boy who looked like Matt from when he was eleven and the boy's partner Agumon, jumping about.

"So it's true. Digimon really are a kids' show," Matt gasped. They all had liked the show – there wasn't anything bad about it – but it was hard to understand how anyone could think about making a show similar to the 'original' DigiDestined's adventures when no-one was supposed to know about Digimon. The Digimon weren't bothered by it – they argued who'd make a better star than an Agumon.

Just how was this possible? Had a human-like Digimon made the show based on the 'original' DigiDestined's adventures, or was this all a coincidence?

**To be continued…**


	7. Episode 7: The distant brother

**The distant brother**

"HEY-Y! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" two voices chanted, their owners jumping up and down on Willis' stomach. The blond American groaned as he sat up, grabbing his twin Digimon's long ears. Terriermon and Lopmon just laughed at his annoyed expression.

"Some wake up for Sunday morning," Willis muttered in English.

* * *

In Japan, the other DigiDestined were getting similar treatments from their partners. Even Guilmon was excited about the reunion he and Takato had been invited to. "Takato! I'm hungry!" he said.

Takato indistinctively mumbled something, rolling over in his bed.

"Takatomon!" Guilmon shouted, throwing his own pillow at the teenager's head. Takato sat up, very annoyed.

"Guilmon!" he snapped, "What's your problem?!"

"Takato, I'm hungry."

"Oh. Sorry, buddy," Takato said, his expression softening. "I'll be right down."

When Takato was climbing down the steps, Guilmon asked innocently: "Did you forget the party?"

"The party!" Takato exclaimed, missing the last two steps and falling on the floor. He sat up, rubbing his head and groaning, but Guilmon just laughed.

* * *

An hour later, Takato was walking down a street wearing his usual dark blue hoodies and denim blue jeans. He was apparently carrying a very large cardboard box with two bakery product filled grocery bags hanging from his arms. He arrived at the meeting place – in front of the apartment complex TK, Yolei and Iori lived in. The others and a few older teens were already there.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Koushiro Izumi, but call me Izzy," a red-haired 17-year-old boy with a laptop said. Takato nodded and introduced himself. "These guys are Joe Kido and Mimi Tachikawa," Izzy said, motioning to his two friends who were holding their partners.

"Is Guilmon in there?" Tsunomon, who was held by Matt, asked as he pointed his horn at the cardboard box.

"I'm here!" came Guilmon's child-like voice from under the box, and Takato hushed him. Matt snickered.

"Where's Davis?" Takato asked.

"Late, as usual," Yolei replied, rolling her eyes. Just then they all could see the maroon-haired teenager run towards them, carrying a big backpack in one hand and DemiVeemon in the other.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to make up an excuse to Jun. She saw DemiVeemon and thought he was the 'cutest stuffed toy in the world'."

"I don't mind being cute, but did your sister _have_ to squeeze me so much?" DemiVeemon complained. Everyone laughed.

"Okay, I'll meet up with you, Davis and Kari at Tai and Sora's apartment, Ken," Izzy said to the former genius, getting a nod in reply.

Davis, Kari and Ken gave their share of the party food to Yolei and TK, and walked off with their partners to catch a bus. The rest headed to TK's apartment and Guilmon threw off his box. Izzy set up the Digiport on TK's computer. The DigiDestined, apart from Izzy, held up their digivices. Takato followed their example, and got a surprise as he and the others were pulled into the computer with a flash of light.

"I hope Takato will let me take a look at that digivice of his," Izzy said to his partner Motimon. "It's a different model from the originals and the D3s."

* * *

"Wow! This part of the Digital World sure is beautiful!" Takato exclaimed, having forgotten the strange way he had just entered the Digital World. He was looking around at the flowers and greenery of Breezy Valley. He noticed a very large tree, the Sacred Tree, amongst the other trees. Unlike the rest, it wasn't blooming and it was a lot bigger than the other trees.

"Isn't it? It was my idea to hold our reunion here," Mimi said, hugging her boyfriend Joe's arm.

Takato turned and noticed a 15 years old boy with short-cropped blond hair and bluish-green eyes. He had a Terriermon and a Lopmon on each shoulder. "Hi, my name's Willis Lee," the boy said, holding a hand. Takato shook it.

"Hi. I'm Takato Matsuda. How come you have two partners?"

"Willis got us from an egg eleven years ago," Lopmon explained, and Takato realized that he was a male, not female like Suzie's partner.

"We're brothers! Twins, actually," Terriermon added.

The group spread out all the food and drinks on a large picnic blanket while Guilmon and the other Rookie Digimon played happily. Terriermon and Lopmon liked him a lot, much to Takato's pleasure.

* * *

"What's wrong with Tai? Has he suddenly decided to avoid his friends as much as possible? I can't believe he's not gonna show up when the reunion was his idea in the first place!" Davis ranted. The goggle-head was pacing back and forth in the small living room of Tai and Sora's apartment. Ken was trying to calm him down, unsuccessfully, and Sora and Kari were sitting on the couch looking worried.

The front door opened and Tai walked in. Everybody stared at him. He seemed a little pale, with what looked like dark bruises under his eyes. It seemed like he hadn't slept in a week. He was wearing his pizza-delivery uniform, which had a few scratches from who-knows-how-Tai-got-them.

Without even a glance in his girlfriend's, friends' and sister's direction, Tai waltzed into the bedroom and from there to the bathroom. Pretty soon the sound of water could be heard.

"Tai looked like a wreck!" DemiVeemon exclaimed, earning himself a small smack on the head from Gatomon.

"It's been like this for almost a month. Tai won't talk and only eats a few sandwiches each day. He leaves early in the mornings and comes back very late in the evenings. Sometimes he doesn't' come back at all. We've tried talking to him, but he won't listen. I… I don't know what to do!" Sora covered her face in her hands, crying. Kari put a comforting arm round the older teen's shoulders, feeling her own eyes getting misty with worry.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Kari asked gently, holding back tears.

"I tried to send messages, but Tai hid my D-terminal. He said he was fine and that no-one needs to know what he's doing because he has everything under control. He convinced me it'll all blow over in a week or two, but nothing's changed. The only one I managed to tell is Matt, when he called yesterday when Tai was doing his extra pizza deliveries."

"Okay, Tai's obviously out of whack. Is it coz he's still upset about not being able to become a professional soccer player?" Davis said.

"But he said he's put that behind. And that he's focusing on a whole new career," Sora's partner Biyomon pointed out.

Just then the bathroom door opened. Tai came out, refreshed and wearing clean clothes. He picked up his jacket from the floor and put it on, about to head out again. Agumon rushed in the way, spreading his arms. "You're not going anywhere today, except the reunion."

"That's today?" Tai asked, clueless.

"Yes! And you idiot forgot all about it!" the overgrown lizard shouted. Tai was a little startled. It was rare for Agumon to shout at him like that.

There was a knock on the door. Tai took a step to open it, but was stopped by his partner. "Who is it?" Agumon asked loudly enough for the knocker to hear.

"Izzy and Motimon," came their friend's voice from behind the door. Agumon opened it and let the two in. "Uhh… Is Tai going somewhere?"

There was a short silence, which was broken by Tai. "No. I'm not going anywhere, except the reunion."

He turned around and went to Sora, flashing his Kamiya grin as he took her hands into his. "Sorry for worrying you, Sor'. I'll make it up to you, I promise. You too, Kari."

"Hey! What about me?" Agumon asked, pretending to be hurt. Tai laughed, something no-one had heard in quite a while.

"Of course, I can't forget about you, Agumon. What do you say we head for a hamburger feast tomorrow when I come home from University?"

"For real?"

"For real."

"Well, now that that's sorted, lets go to the reunion!" Davis said.

* * *

The others were already sitting on the picnic blanket eating, with Takato telling the others about his adventures. He was careful to leave out everything about the other Tamers, though. The DigiDestined had told him all about their adventures.

The newcomers sat down, and Terriermon remarked: "So, you managed to drag Tai here after all."

"Terriermon! That's rude," Willis scolded. Tai just laughed, and Takato grinned. This Terriermon reminded him a lot of Henry's, except he didn't say "momentai" all the time.

"So what've you been up to?" Yolei asked, curious.

"Uhh… That's a good question," Tai replied awkwardly. He glanced at Takato, not at all surprised to see him. Then he noticed the younger teen's yellow goggles. "Hey, I didn't know there was another DigiDestined. And he's got goggles too."

"This is Takato. He's new to Odaiba," Kari said, placing a hand on Takato's shoulder. A faint blush crept on her and Takato's features, and she hurriedly took her hand off. Luckily, the others in her team were busy filling Tai and Sora in on all that had happened, not noticing the blushes.

"Wow. Sounds like there might be a new enemy out there," Sora remarked. Tai shifted uncomfortably and got up, saying he wanted to think about it in peace and the others can just go on enjoying the picnic.

"Is Tai putting on a lonewolf act?" Matt wondered out loud after an hour had passed. Everyone was enjoying themselves, but Tai wasn't even taking part in the picnic or the conversations. He had claimed to think about all that had been going on, but it seemed like something else might be bothering him.

Takato glanced at Kari and saw she had her worried expression again. So he got up and walked over to where Tai was sitting under a tree with his arms crossed, staring to the distance. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tai replied in a monotone voice, not moving his empty gaze.

"Why don't you join the rest of us? You look like you could use some company."

"No thanks. I'm going for a walk," Tai replied, standing up. He walked off with his hands in his brown jeans' pockets.

Takato returned to the others. "Tai's going for a walk. Is that bad?"

The older DigiDestined glanced at each other, not liking what Takato had just announced. They remembered how Matt had left the group for a bit and returned more confused than ever. Only after going off for a second time did he come to terms with himself. But Tai didn't have doubts about what kind of a person he was, surely? And being a lonewolf wasn't a part of his personality. So why would he isolate himself from his friends?

"I'll go after him," Matt offered, standing up. He ran to Tai's direction. It wasn't long before the blond caught up with his best friend.

"Go away, Matt," Tai said, turning around.

"Not a chance. What's up with you, Tai? You're not acting like yourself."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Tai said tauntingly. "One problem, Mr Rock Star. I'm not interested in talking to you."

Grinding his teeth, Matt struggled to keep his cool. He was about to lose his temper. "Tai, why are you acting like this? You remind me of how I used to act when I was young. And how Ken acted. And how Willis acted. But you're nothing like us, so what happened to make you behave like this all of a sudden?"

"That's none of your business."

"It is my business, because you're my best friend! Suddenly you just dropped contacting your parents and Kari. You won't spend time with Sora anymore. You never talk to her and Agumon. That's not the Tai we've known for years!"

"So what? This is just a rough patch, that's all. Besides, I'm a full adult now, so I need independence!"

That was the last straw. Matt charged forward and punched Tai in the face, hitting his right cheek. Tai fell on his butt, surprised. It had been a little over four years since Matt had last "encouraged" him to think about what he was saying.

"Independence has nothing to do with this!" Matt said through gritted teeth. "You're being a worse jerk than I ever have, and that's saying lot considering the mistakes I've made. It's like you suddenly don't care about anyone, not even Kari!"

Tai gawped, about to deny what his best friend just said. But he knew it was the truth, much to his regret. In a very small voice, he admitted: "You're right."

Tai looked past Matt and saw his little sister standing there with Takato. From the shock on their faces and the tears staring in Kari's eyes, it was clear to him they had seen and heard the whole argument. Tai got up and ran off without a single glance back. Takato took a few steps to follow him, but was stopped by Matt.

"Don't. Let him think things through." Since Matt knew Tai very well, Takato reluctantly agreed.

* * *

_What's wrong with me?_ Tai wondered as he ran past trees. _Matt's right, this just isn't the real me. Is it the same as what happened to Ken? Am I being influenced by some dark power? Is that why I couldn't help doing what I did to Takato?_

_I can't believe how badly I've treated everyone who cares about me! My family… My friends… Agumon… Sora... I've been horrible!_

Tai stopped running when he suddenly heard a creepy voice: "Soon…"

"Huh? Who's there?" He looked all around, but couldn't see anyone. Yet, the voice came again.

"Soon…"

"Aargh! Leave me alone!" Tai shouted in frustration, clutching his bushy chocolate hair. He spotted one of the old fashioned TVs near. _I'll go home. Maybe that stupid voice will go away. I somehow doubt it, though._

* * *

On the way back to the picnic, the three teenagers walked slowly in the hope that Tai would catch up to them. Takato looked at Kari walking beside him. She was crying silently, and it wrenched Takato's heart to see her like this. If it weren't for his fear of hurting Jeri, he would instantly hug her to give some comfort.

Instead, Takato looked at the blond walking a few steps in front of him. From what the others had told him, he knew Matt and Tai had used to argue a lot but had eventually become best friends. Apparently, if anyone could get through to Tai, it was undoubtedly Matt.

"Huh?" Takato suddenly found Kari hugging him. He shifted as he wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her face in his chest as she cried harder. Takato couldn't help blushing like an idiot. "D-Don't worry, Kari."

Noticing the younger teens weren't with him anymore, Matt stopped and turned. He saw them hugging and strode over to them, then laid a hand on Kari's shoulder. "Everything's gonna be okay. We all will do everything we can to help Tai," the rock star said gently.

Kari whimpered what sounded like "OK", but the boys weren't sure if they heard right. She let go of Takato, and the three friends continued walking. When they arrived at the picnic, almost everyone gathered around them when they saw Kari had been crying. Gatomon hugged her human partner comfortingly.

"U-oh! This might not be good."

"What is it, Izzy?" Iori asked. The computer expert was looking at his laptop, and his friends crowded round to see.

"Tai's gone to the Real World. What if he pulls off a disappearance act?"

"Then lets go find him!" Davis declared, getting agreeing nods from his friends.

**To be continued…**

Yeah, it's pretty mysterious right now as to what the heck is wrong with Tai. And Takato's just starting to discover his feelings for Kari. That creepy voice will make his debut later on, and that'll be when what Tai did to Takato will be explained. Stay tuned!


	8. Episode 8: Complications

**Complications**

_This is starting to seem hopeless,_ Takato thought, walking down a street of Odaiba with Kari, Yolei, Ken and their partners. They had been walking for two hours, and so far no-one had seen any sign of Tai. Yolei had just gotten a message from Mimi, telling her Sora had decided Tai and Kari's parents should know. It wasn't long before the police were looking for the leader of the 'original' DigiDestined too.

_Could the Tai I met be a D-reaper agent? Nah, that's a stupid idea. The D-reaper is long gone. __I wish we at least had some clue or at least knew why Tai's acting like this,_ Takato thought, glancing at Kari. He wanted to give her a comforting hug again, but wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

Poor Kari was near despair. Although she no longer was crying from worry, she still felt more helpless than when she and TK were on their own against a powerful evil Digimon Piedmon when they were eight. Kari recalled many memories from all the times Tai had been there for her.

_Tai worrying when Kari got sick in the Digital World._

_Tai throwing Kari her digivice during the fight against Myotismon._

_Tai and Kari taking a group of Gotsumon to safety._

_Tai telling Kari he'll bring their parents back safe and sound. And her "little buddy" Gatomon too._

_Tai telling unsure Kari her team are not just kids, they're DigiDestined._

_Tai holding Kari close during Greymon's fight against Parrotmon._

_Tai playing soccer with Kari, then getting very worried when she faints from pneumonia._

_An orange sparkle glowing at Tai's chest during the battle with Apocalymon, as he was saying his courage was everyone's courage._

Kari sighed. Yolei looked at her. "Don't worry, Kari. With the police looking too, someone's bound to find Tai."

Walking beside her partner on her hind legs, Gatomon added: "No need to be a scaredy cat, Kari. If no-one else can find Tai, I'm sure Agumon will. They're partners, after all."

"Right. When I was in trouble, Takato helped me," Guilmon piped up.

"I guess…" Kari said, not fully convinced.

Four more hours passed. Ken decided enough was enough. "Guys, it's eight o'clock and we have school tomorrow. I think we should all go home now."

"But nobody's found Tai yet! We can't just give up!" Takato burst out. The other three humans and their partners looked at him oddly. He barely knew Tai, so why would he care so much?

_Aw, man! My feelings for Kari make me want to run all over Tokyo to find her brother. Do I really like her that much?_ "Err… I just don't see the point in quitting now."

"But Ken didn't say anything about giving up," Wormmon said.

"I meant that the Digimon can go on searching while were at school," Ken explained.

"Can I go too?" Guilmon asked.

"Well…" Takato said hesitatingly. He wanted to help as much has possible, but he was worried that Guilmon would get himself in trouble if he wandered around without Takato watching him. "Okay," Takato said at last. "But don't draw attention to yourself, OK?"

"Okey dokey."

* * *

"Mum! Dad! We're back from the party!" Takato called as he and Guilmon walked into the apartment. There was no answer. They went into the kitchen and Takato saw a note on the table.

'At the bakery 'til closing time. Left some dinner for you and Guilmon in the fridge.'

"Somehow, I'm not all that hungry. What about you, Guilmon? Uhh… Guilmon?" His partner didn't hear. He was busy raiding the fridge. "Hey! You'll get in trouble for that! Guilmon!" The overgrown lizard didn't hear. He was too busy slurping the soup left for them and munching a whole cake.

"Mmm! That was good!" he said with a burp. Takato couldn't help chuckling at his partner's antics.

"Lets go to the bakery, buddy."

* * *

Kari lay on her bed, staring out of the window absentmindedly. It had been half an hour since she got home. _Takato's so nice and caring. I gotta admit, I kinda like him. I hope he doesn't have a girlfriend._

"Kari?" Gatomon's voice came from nearby.

"Aah!" Kari almost jumped up. She turned and saw her partner. "Gatomon, don't sneak up on me like that."

"I didn't. You were so lost in thought, you didn't notice when I put one of Tai's old socks on your foot." Kari looked, and saw she really had her brother's old sock on her left foot. She took it off.

"Why exactly did you do that?" she asked.

"I was bored," the feline replied with a shrug. "What were you thinking about, Kari?"

Kari blushed, embarrassed. But she felt guilty too. There were no news about her brother, and she was thinking about someone else. What kind of a sister does that?

"Err... nothing. Lets go ask Mum again if there are any news of Tai."

* * *

Takato and Guilmon crossed the road to the Matsuda Family Bakery. As they entered, they saw a familiar 15-year-old hang up an apron. The red haired Tamer turned and saw them. "Well, look who finally showed up."

"Nice to see you too, Rika," Takato said with a nervous smile, hoping she wouldn't ask where he had been.

Rika Nonaka almost glared at him, noticing the nerves at once. "So... where've you and Guilmon been all day, goggle-head?"

"Nowhere in particular. So what are you doing here?"

"What'd it look like?" Rika asked sarcastically. "I helped your parents with their bakery. Mum and I came to Odaiba for one of her photo shoots, and I figured I'd visit but you weren't here."

"I was out. Anyway, what's been up after I left?"

Rika's expression softened a tiny bit. "Kazu and Kenta are still idiots, Ryo still sends us e-mails and called each of us, Suzie still babysits the twins, and Henry and I went on a date once."

"You what?!" Takato exclaimed. _Henry and Rika? Those two are as different as possible!_ "Err... what about that guy Leon you dated?"

"Leon's a jerk. I know Henry and I aren't exactly a perfect match, but I gotta admit that he's sorta cute. Enough of me, what have _you_ been up to?"

"Nothing at all," Takato said dismissively, putting his hands in his blue jeans' pockets.

"Oh, really? Your mum said you were out at a party with new friends."

"Yeah. So what?" Takato was getting irritated. What did it matter if he went out with new friends?

"Last time I got an e-mail from you, you said you hate it here and met a bunch of people who let hang with them but you don't want to have anything to do with them. What changed? Plus, I've known you for four years, so I know when you're hiding something, Takato."

"I'm not hiding anything! Besides, what I do is none of your business!"

"Renamon?" Rika said coolly. Her fox-like partner appeared at once. "Why don't you give goggle-head a nice squeeze?" Renamon wasn't sure what her human partner was up to, but obeyed anyway. She vanished and reappeared behind Takato, getting the boy in an arm-lock. Rika took a step forward, hands on her hips. "I'll ask you one more time. Where were you?"

"We were in the Digital World with the other DigiDestined and Digimon but then we went looking for Kari's brother," Guilmon said, oblivious to the situation.

"Thank you, Guilmon. Renamon, let goggle-head go." The tall yellow and white Rookie did as told and vanished again. "Okay, Takato, spill it."

So Takato told the whole story. Meeting the 'second generation' DigiDestined, ending up at the Dark Ocean twice, exchanging stories and information with the group, going to the Digital world, Tai and Matt's argument, and leaving the Digital World through a TV to try and find Tai. As he told it all, he realised how insane it all sounded. But Rika believed him. Why not? They had seen plenty of strange things. Takato left out the part about meeting a separate group of DigiDestined in a weird fog-like place. The story was crazy enough as it was.

"So these DigiDestined are another group of humans with Digimon partners and they've saved both worlds a few times?"

"Yes."

"And now one of them has been acting strangely and it's that Kari girl's brother?"

"Yes."

"And you like her?"

"I didn't say that!"

"It is pretty obvious, you know. Besides, you're blushing." So he was. Takato glared at her and the blush faded as quickly as it had come.

Rika grabbed him by his hoodie and slammed him against a wall, making the glare change to a look of alarm. "Listen, Takato. Ever since you left, Jeri's been asked out by lots of guys. But she turned them all down, saying she still considers you two a couple. I won't let you hurt my best friend!"

"I'm not going to hurt her! I love Jeri!" Takato protested.

Rika let go of him. "You better not. Call her right now and tell her you've been an idiot and fallen for someone else."

"I don't need _you_ to tell me that, Rika. And I haven't fallen for Kari!" Takato protested as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, then he selected Jeri's name and pressed the green button.

"Put it in speaker," Rika ordered. Very annoyed, Takato obeyed.

There was a beep and Jeri's voice came from the phone: "Takato?"

"Hi, Jeri," Takato said, forgetting his annoyance. It felt so good to hear her voice again!

"Oh, I've missed you so much! You'll never believe this, but Rika and Henry are a couple now! Oh, Takato, looking at them kinda reminds me of us. Except we're not all that different from each other. I missed you so much!"

"Uh-huh. I missed you too. How are things?"

"Nothing's changed, except you're not here. We still all hang at the park every now and then. Heh, Kazu, me and Kenta spied on Henry and Rika's date. I wish you would've been there, though. So what have you–"

"You guys spied on our date?!" Rika shouted, blushing like mad and snatching the phone.

"Huh? What's Rika doing there?" Jeri asked over the phone.

"Visiting. Miss Nonaka had a photo-shoot in Odaiba," Takato explained.

"Oh. You're not mad at me, are you? Rika?"

"Yeah, I am. But I'm a lot more mad at that idiot who came up with the stupid idea of spying on me and Henry. Lemme guess. Kazu?"

"Bingo."

"I'll strangle that boy next time I see him."

"O-kay. Anyway, can I talk to Takato in private?"

"Sure," Rika replied, giving her friend his phone back and looking at him meaningfully. Takato winced, knowing what Rika wanted him to do.

"Jeri…" Takato began, but didn't get any further.

"Takato, I'm so glad you called! I know we broke up, but I still think of you as my boyfriend. I know! We can look up trains that travel between Odaiba and Shinjuku on weekends. Won't that be fun? We can spend time together again!"

"Yeah. That's really great." Takato's heart felt like a knife was twisted inside it. "Erm… Jeri, I… I…"

"It's okay," Rika whispered, unheard by Jeri. "Don' tell her."

Takato nodded, grateful. "I gotta call Kazu and warn him that Rika's super mad at him. You see, when she came here, she reminded me that I haven't called anyone since I got here. So I gotta go now, OK?"

"'Course! Love you."

"L-Love you too."

At her end, Jeri pressed the red button to end the call. She hugged her pillow, and Calumon jumped up and down. "Was that Takato?" he asked, playfully throwing a sock at Jeri.

"Yeah," the auburn-hired girl said dreamily, remembering all the good times she spent with Takato.

Takato looked at his friend, not sure what to expect. Rika was staring at the floor, feeling down. "I… can't do it. Knowing the truth would break her." Takato nodded in agreement. Jeri must never know.

Rika suddenly grabbed Takato and held him against the wall again. "You better stay as far away as possible from that Kari girl, or I'll break your arms," she snarled. "Got it, goggle-head?"

Takato gulped. "Y-Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Rika let go and marched out of the bakery. Takato and Guilmon followed her to the street, and stood watching her walk away.

"Son? Did you and Rika argue?" Matsuda asked as he stepped out with his wife to close the bakery. They had seen Rika grab their son by his hoodie.

"I don't really know," Takato replied truthfully, scratching the back of his head the way he often saw Davis do.

* * *

Takato was laying on his bed, hands folded under his head. _I already knew hurting Jeri is not an option. I love her! But… What do I do about these feelings for Kari? Aw man, this is complicated! I wish I could talk to Henry…_

Takato's mind wandered back to the phone conversation he had had with Henry before going to bed. They talked about school and Yamaki, and Takato teased Henry about going out with Rika. Then, after getting annoyed and flustered and then calming down, Henry said: "Love is weird, you know. It's easy for you, you've loved Jeri ever since you had a crush on her on 5th grade."

Takato had felt like telling Henry right at that moment how confused he was. But he knew Henry might mention it to Rika, who would be sure to tell Jeri. So instead he had told him about the DigiDestined, and Henry had promised to tell the others.

_I'm in such a mess! _Takato thought now._ Never mind Rika's threat – I can't ignore what I feel for Kari. I've got it! I'll ask her out tomorrow, and find out what these feelings are. If it's just a crush or I'm still unsure after the date, I'll stay loyal to Jeri._

Having finally come up with a decision, Takato drifted off to sleep.

**To be continued…**

Yup, things sure are starting to get complicated. Only, the date doesn't go quite as Takato hopes. Stay tuned for the next episode of Takato's Fate.


	9. Episode 9: A date and shocks

**A date and shocks**

Dressed in uniform, Takato was standing by the school gate, having arrived early like on Thursday and Friday but this time without Guilmon. He was lost in thought. _Maybe this isn't a good idea. That nightmare really wasn't encouraging._

_In his mind, Takato re-experienced the nightmare from last night. He was standing, surrounded by nothing but darkness. The place slowly shaped into a street that looked very familiar. "I'm… home?" Takato said to himself, as he stood in front of his family's bakery, the one he had lived in for almost all his life. Looking at it still felt like home._

_Hearing footsteps, Takato turned and saw Kari and Jeri walking towards him in the distance, a large space between them. "Jeri? Kari?" Takato said, confused as to what they were doing there. They didn't reply. They just kept walking forward._

_Suddenly, a dark hole appeared beneath both of them, and they started to sink like in quick sand. "JERI! KARI!" Takato yelled, running a few steps forward. But he stopped, seeing that, with the large space between them, he could only save one of them. "What do I do? I can't pick one over the other!"_

_The two girls kept sinking, gone up to their middles already. If Takato didn't do something soon, both of them would be gone. "NO!" Takato screamed, wishing there was some way he could save them both._

_He woke up as he screamed "no", sitting up in bed. He found himself panting. Takato wiped sweat off his forehead. Laying down, he whispered: "I'm so screwed."_

"Yup, I'm definitely screwed," Takato said to himself now. Looking at teenagers chatting as they walked to school grounds, he added: "But… I gotta find out what exactly I feel for Kari. I hope the DigiDestined arrive soon, before I chicken out."

Lucky for him, Kari was the first one of the 'second generation' DigiDestined to arrive. She was worried about Tai, of course, but seeing Takato greet her with a smile made her feel a lot better. "Good morning," she replied.

"Listen… Uhh… I know this isn't the best time, but… Well… Would you like to… erm, you know, go out after school today to catch a movie?" Takato stammered, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"I'd be happy to," Kari replied at once, as red as a beetroot with pleasure.

"Great, so… I'll come to your place at three. See ya then!" Takato quickly ran off before he would say something stupid.

"What's up with Takato?" TK asked, as he, Iori, Ken and Yolei arrived in time to see the goggle-head flee. Kari didn't reply. She just watched the boy bump onto Yamaki and stammer an apology before fleeing to a corridor. Kari smiled and giggled a little, making her friends look at her oddly.

"No way!" Yolei said suddenly, realising why Kari was on this mood.

"Yolei?" Iori asked, but was ignored. His friend grabbed Kari by the shoulders and they started giggling madly. "Okay… Girls sure are weird."

* * *

"Not this. I wear it every day," Kari grumbled to herself as she threw her usual red T-shirt that had a pink flower onto her bed. She threw some more clothes on the bed and all around, trying to decide what to wear for the date. Lucky for her, she had gotten out of school at two. She had decided to skip photography club today and go straight home.

"Kari? Honey, what are you doing?" Yuuko Kamiya asked as she stepped into the room and got a pair of jeans thrown on her.

"I have a date today, and I've nothing to wear!" Kari complained, turning to her mum and holding her favourite purple skirt before throwing it across her chair. She still had her school uniform on.

"A date? With who?" Yuuko asked, folding the jeans.

"Takato Matsuda. He moved here the week before last week, and I've gotten to know him pretty well. We have a date in half an hour, but I've nothing to wear."

"Well, why don't you just wear what you usually wear when going out with friends. I'm sure he doesn't even notice what clothes you have on."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you sure about what?" Susumu Kamiya asked as he came over from the living room. "What a mess! I thought Gatomon was out looking for Tai."

"She is. Kari's just getting ready for a date," his wife explained.

"With TK?"

"No. With a new friend, Takato Matsuda."

"How long have you know this Takato?" Susumu asked his daughter.

"A little over a week," Kari replied, picking up clothes into a pile.

"A week! I'm not going to let my daughter go out with some teenage boy she barely knows!"

"Now, now, dear. Kari can date who she likes," Yuuko said to her husband soothingly.

"No way! I forbid it!"

* * *

The doorbell rang, and Susumu opened the door. He glared at Takato, having lost the argument to his wife.

"Good afternoon, sir. I'm Takato Matsuda. Is Kari home?" Takato said, bowing politely. He had gotten Davis to show him the way to the Kamiya apartment.

For a few seconds Susumu just glared at him. Takato didn't look like a bad person at all. He was wearing his usual clothes apart from his goggles, which were in his pocket. Susumu felt a little disappointed, since he couldn't say something like "where'd you get your ear pierced?" or "did you steal that leatherjacket?".

Grumbling something that sounded like "yes, she's waiting for you" and "come on in", Susumu stood aside and let Takato in the apartment. He led Takato to the living room, where Yuuko was pouring juice into a cup.

"Here. So, Takato, I hear you're new to Odaiba," she said, handing him the cup and sitting down to the sofa.

"Yeah. We moved here two weeks ago, from Shinjuku."

"Shinjuku is such a nice place. Why did you leave?"

"My parents own a bakery and decided to widen their business," Takato explained, "So they sold the old bakery to a young couple who were hoping to raise a family and we opened up a new one down here. They're hoping to start a chain of bakeries."

"Oh, that's nice," Yuuko remarked, just as Kari came from her room wearing her usual outfit, with a small yellow bag that had her cell phone, D-terminal and D3 round her waist. "Do you plan on joining them in their business when you're older?" her mum said to Takato.

"I haven't exactly given that much thought," Takato answered, his face turning bright red. Kari thought it was cute to see him get embarrassed over something like that.

"Hi, Takato."

The Tamer whirled around and smiled. "Hi, Kari. So… Shall we?" He held his hand to her as he walked past, and she took it.

"Be home by four," Susumu said, crossing his arms.

"Honey!" Yuuko laughed, swatting her husband with a napkin. "You know your curfew, Kari."

"Yeah, Mum! Bye!" was the reply as Kari slammed the door.

Soon the two teenagers were out of the apartment complex. "So… What movie are we seeing?" Kari asked, fiddling her D3.

Takato shrugged. He had paid zero attention to his lessons, busy thinking about the date but forgetting to prepare for it. "Is there anything in particular that you would like?"

"Not really. How about we go to Shinjuku? You're from there, right?"

"Uhh… Yes, I used to live there."

"Perfect! You can show me Guilmon's shed and your old bakery and all sorts of places. Is that okay with you?"

Takato had no idea what to say. If he went to Shinjuku with Kari, there was a risk that his friends would see them. But on the other had, he really longed to see the old bakery and the shed, and pay a visit to his friends' houses. _Maybe I can go there, say bye to Kari when the date's over, and then go see my friends. Yeah, that's perfect!_ "OK. I know a train we can catch and I should have enough money to pay both our tickets."

* * *

It wasn't very long before the two teenagers were walking in Shinjuku Park. They had talked about all sorts of things on the train apart from anything related to Tai, and both of them had relaxed. As they walked around, Takato showed Kari the shed and a pond, savouring the memories he had shared there with his friends.

Takato felt Kari's hand close round his. For some reason it didn't feel all that awkward. It felt pretty nice and made Takato's heart feel light, happy and free. But then Jeri's face appeared in Takato's head, and he let go of Kari's hand. Kari, who had felt the same as Takato had, looked at him. She was puzzled and a little afraid that he didn't like her.

Takato noticed two boys his age, one of them with brown hair that had been cut shorter yet still was spiked up, the other green-haired and wearing glasses. Kazu Shioda and Kenta Kitagawa. His childhood friends and fellow Digimon Tamers.

They were fairly near, sitting on grass with their partners, Guardromon disguised as a statue and MarineAngemon disguised as a stuffed toy. The two teenage boys were playing the Digimon Card Game instead of doing their homework, as their school books were open in front of them but completely ignored.

Kari noticed Guardromon, but decided she must be imagining things. "Are those guys your friends?" she asked Takato instead.

He turned to look at her. "Yeah. I've known them ever since first grade."

"Do you want to go say hi?"

"No thanks. Lets go to the bakery."

* * *

Soon they arrived in front of the right place. There was hardly anything new. The sign still read 'Matsuda Family Bakery', and the window displays had the same kind of pastries that were in display at the new one. The only differences were that this bakery was smaller and part house, and there was a small text next to the sign that read 'Fujieda family'.

Takato led the way inside, where they found a young man and woman busily stocking shelves and trying to fulfil the orders of a little crowd of shoppers.

"Two loaves of that Guilmon bread!" one customer shouted demandingly.

"A box of those ginger and cinnamon cookies!'

"A package of Kaiser rolls!"

"Okay! That was two loaves of Guilmon bread, one box of ginger rolls, and three packages of Kaiser cookies," the woman frantically repeated incorrectly, running into the back.

Takato turned to Kari and said: "Excuse me for a second."

Takato immediately ran behind the counter and tapped the man on the shoulder. The man waved. "Just a second, dear. Okay two loaves of bread, one loaf of… wait, hang on, let's start over."

"Hey, Mr Fujieda, need a hand?" Takato asked.

Mr Fujieda jumped up in surprise. "Wha… oh, hello. It's been a while. You were…Taichi, right? Or was it Takeshi?"

"Takato," the Tamer corrected, "What's the situation?"

"Well, my wife is doing her best to get the bread and dough ready," Mr Fujieda explained, "And I'm just trying to restock the shelves and get the sales on these purchases."

"Alright, I'll give you guys a hand." Takato rolled up his sleeves, threw on an apron and ran into the back. Kari watched awestruck as Takato ran out and quickly started stocking shelves with different boxes and bags. He disappeared and reappeared from the kitchen again, this time holding a tray of doughnuts in each hand. He placed them on the display shelves by the window front before disappearing into the kitchen yet again.

"He works fast, doesn't he?" Kari turned her head and saw a girl her age with short auburn hair, wearing a navy blue school uniform. She wasn't sure why the other girl was talking to her or when she entered the store but she had to agree.

"Yeah, Takato is quite good."

"He's always been," the other girl stated matter-of-factly, her tone suggesting she didn't hear Kari. She was gazing in the direction of the kitchen, where Takato had just gone. "He always loved the bakery, even if he doesn't want to admit it."

"I'm sorry?" Kari asked in response to the cryptic words.

As if awakening from a trance, the girl shook her head and said: "Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Jeri, Jeri Katou."

"Hi, Jeri. I'm Hikari Kamiya but you can call me Kari. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Jeri replied with a smile. She seemed pretty nice.

They were silent for a minute, and Kari's thoughts wandered back to Takato, who rushed by and told Mr Fujieda he was quickly helping with making some dough. Then she thought about Tai. He had been gone for two days, with no-one having any clue where he could be. Kari dismissed the worrying thoughts at once, wanting to enjoy her date with Takato. She would look for Tai if he wasn't found by tomorrow morning.

"So, are you two in the same class?" Jeri asked.

"Yep. In English, maths and chemistry."

"How's Takato settling in?"

"Pretty well. He's been hanging out with me and my friends a few times, and I think he knows one of the teachers at Odaiba High."

"Well, I guess that's good. Takato was really sorry to leave Shinjuku. It's where he met Guil– I mean, an important friend." _Phew, that was close. I wonder why I almost spilled out about Guilmon to a total stranger?_

"Do you mean two boys around my age?" Kari asked, remembering Kazu and Kenta.

"Uhh… Don't know. Anyhow, are you a friend of Takato's?"

Kari nodded, then asked: "So, how do you know Takato?

""I'm his girlfriend," Jeri said rather plainly, as if it were a common fact.

Kari felt something inside her break. _Takato already has a girlfriend? Then why would he ask me on a date? Is he trying to cheat on Jeri with me? Or…no…no, none of this makes sense._ Anger boiled up inside her. Trying to contain herself, she calmly said: "Excuse me."

She then departed out of the bakery and disappeared down the street, hoping to get to the train station.

* * *

After about half an hour of work, Takato hung up his apron. The Fujiedas thanked Takato for his help and he went out to meet Kari. Only she wasn't there. However, Jeri was and she immediately greeted Takato by running up to him and placing a kiss on his lips. Takato was completely caught off guard, but he wanted the kiss to keep going even though he was feeling extremely guilty on kissing Jeri when he was out with Kari.

When they finally broke away from the kiss, Jeri happily said: "Hey, Takato. I missed you."

"I missed you too Jeri," Takato answered, but his mind was whirring. There was no sign of Kari, and he got very worried about her.

Jeri was hugging him tightly. "You should have told me that you were coming back to Shinjuku for a visit. I would have met you at the station."

"I'm sorry," Takato replied, "Do you know where Kari went?"

"She left a little while ago," Jeri answered, releasing Takato from the hug. "Since you're here, why don't we go around town for a bit?"

Takato happily agreed, while quietly worrying about what went on between Jeri and Kari. As they left the bakery/house, waving their final goodbyes to the Fujiedas, Takato asked: "So what did you and Kari talk about?"

"Not much really," Jeri answered, "Simply about your work at the bakery. A few minutes ago I introduced myself as your girlfriend and she left."

"You did?" Takato's voice shook weakly.

Jeri nodded. "Yeah. So why don't we go to our usual spot? They have some new brews on the menu I'm sure you'll like."

Takato wearily agreed, a sinking feeling in his gut telling him he had messed up big time.

* * *

Kari had no clue where she was. She was a complete stranger to Shinjuku and felt out of place here in this strange part of the city. She wandered up and down the streets, doing her best to retrace her steps to the station.

She took her cell phone out of her little bag, dialling TK's number. But it said there was no signal. "Great," Kari muttered to herself sarcastically. "The one day I really need my phone, the phone lines go down."

She put it back into her bag and continued trying to find the station, when her D3 beeped and showed a Digimon had appeared.

* * *

Takato and Jeri walked down the street towards their usual spot, a small café near the bakery where they used to go enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while listening to the casual music. However, all Takato could think about was the worry, the guilt and the fear that overtook him. _Poor Kari can be anywhere in Shinjuku. Man, I've messed up so bad!_

As they walked down the alley-like street, Jeri looked at Takato in surprise. "Takato? Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"I asked you what's wrong."

"It's just… Kari."

"Kari?" Jeri echoed, not sure how to feel.

"Yeah. She has never been to Shinjuku, so she might be lost."

"Lets go find her, then!" Jeri decided, relieved. Of course, she didn't know the whole reason of Takato's worry. Jeri took his hand and they ran forward, planning to head for the park.

Just as they came only a crossing away from the park's edge, the street lights flickered and went dead, making the whole place a lot darker. Lights went off at some apartments and shops, as well. It was a blackout.

A large Digimon called Craniamon showed up. He landed on the street in front of the two teens, his sword/stick striking the ground and making it crack a little. A car smashed onto the sword/stick, causing another one to crash too. People screamed as the unmistakable sounds of confusion and uproar started.

"Where'd that Digimon come from?!" Takato exclaimed. He unclipped his D-power from his belt, but it showed no information of the large Digimon, only a picture.

"I am Craniamon, one of the great Royal Knights. We have orders to seek and destroy the DigiDestined."

_Oh no! Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse!_ Takato screamed in his mind, sick with anxiety over Kari.

Then came a sudden vibration of the ground caused inevitably by another Royal Knight, Alphamon, slamming onto the ground. Jeri clung to Takato, holding on close for dear life. Takato, however, couldn't bring himself to hold her. He was too worried about Kari and his new friends.

_They're after the DigiDestined! I have to warn them!_ He took his phone from his pocket, but found that he had no signal. The phone lines were down.

"You shall be destroyed!" Alphamon shouted, preparing to attack. Takato grabbed Jeri's arm and rushed out of the way, the attack missing them by mere inches. It hit an empty parked car and wrecked it completely.

"Why are they attacking us?" Jeri screamed as the two ran into the park, pursued by the two Royal Knights.

"They want the DigiDestined! And since we're Tamers, they must've mistaken us for them! We've got to find Kari _now_!"

**To be continued…**

If you're wondering why Davis was okay with Takato asking Kari out, here's the explanation: Davis matured a lot during 02's second half, in case nobody noticed, and he accepted Kari only liked him as a friend when she went out with TK in CherrygirlU19K's Twist of Fate. And if you wanna know why Jeri almost spilled out about Guilmon, it's coz she felt natural talking to Kari. This'll be shown more in the episode after the next two episodes (Explanations).

Oh, and if you're wondering about the Frontier gang, don't. Their story will be shown sometime around the next few episodes.

PS. Again, some of my story belongs to the writers of Takato's Light.

Anyhow, I hope the story's getting really interesting.


	10. Episode 10: From bad to worse

**From bad to worse**

"Tai!" Kari screamed, banging the orb. "Tai, please, snap out of it!" Her brother didn't hear her. He remained in the same position, completely unaware of the changes to his body.

(Twenty minutes ago…)

_I don't understand why I can't hate Takato all that much. I'm so angry at him for this whole mess, but I can't seem to take my anger out on him. Yet he's the person who hurt me when I already am worried sick about my brother. How could he do that?_ Takato's smiling face appeared in Kari' head, much like every now and then over the past week ever since that spark they felt when they met. But this time it didn't make Kari feel a wave of happiness. The anger, hurt and confusion just got worse.

As she walked down a blackout-darkened alley, Kari thought she saw a Digimon fly above her. It looked like a cross between a woman and a yellow fox. The Digimon was Sakuyamon, and she landed fairly near Kari. She at once jumped up, without even noticing that someone had seen her. As Kari watched Sakuyamon disappear into the distance by long jumps, she said to herself: "That's a beautiful Digimon. Where did she come from?"

Kari shrugged and went on trying to find a way home, but her thoughts wandered back to Takato. The horrible feelings rose up again, worse than before.

Suddenly, Kari noticed a familiar dark mist around and saw everything slowly fade into a grey shade. Her eyes widened, as she realized what it was. "No!" she screamed, as she was once again transported to the Dark Ocean.

As Kari opened her eyes, she saw that she wasn't in the alley anymore. She was at the Dark Ocean. Except she wasn't by the ocean itself. She was standing in the dark forest.

Seeing a small glow in the distance through the trees, Kari decided to go see what it was. After a journey that felt like hours, she arrived at the beach. Kari came across a large glowing orb seemingly made of gelatinous yet solid slime.

As she drew closer, she realized there was someone inside the structure. The person was strangely familiar and, to her horror, it was her brother Tai! He was holding his knees to his chest and staring blankly at his feet.

"Tai?" she called out his name, hoping for some kind of reaction. Silence was her answer. He didn't even react to the sound of her voice, prompting her to rush forward and pound against the orb. She hit it with all her might, but was unable to get Tai's attention. Kari only stopped when her fist became soar from all the punching.

Just as Kari thought it couldn't get any worse, it got worse. Tai started to slowly change, his hair turning blonde. Little buds started to form on his back. "Tai, what's happening to you?!" Her brother didn't react at all. He had a forlorn look in his eyes, as if he was utterly lost and couldn't find a way out.

Kari sank to the ground, rubbing her sore hand. How was she supposed to get him out of there? More importantly, how did she get here and how was she to get out? Kari brought her knees to her chest and began to cry. Cry from the frustration of the revelation of Takato's girlfriend, from the rift that grew between her and her brother, from her inability of being unable to escape the Dark Ocean.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takato and Jeri were fleeing for their lives. They hid behind bushes, and Craniamon and Alphamon went past without noticing.

Takato opened his cell phone again, hoping to be able to get in contact with any of the Tamers or the DigiDestined. Unfortunately, his phone still was not receiving any kind of signal he could use to make a call. He put his cell phone away and immediately took off along a path of concrete. There was no point in going to take a bus or a subway, since they were probably down from the blackout.

"Takato! Wait!" Jeri called after him, appearing at his side in no time. "Where are you going?"

"To get Guilmon," Takato said, "We have to beat those Royal Knights before they can hurt the DigiDestined."

"DigiDestined?" Jeri asked.

Takato waved it off and continued running. "I'll explain later."

"Takato, what's going on!?" Jeri demanded, just barely managing to keep pace with Takato. Takato wasn't sure why or how, but in that one instant he forgot all about Jeri. All of his worries were directed towards Kari's wellbeing. He wanted – no – he needed to know she was safe.

"Takato, wait! Slow down!" Jeri said, calling him back from his hurried daze.

Takato suddenly saw a girl wearing a red T-shirt and a purple skirt walking towards an alley nearby, her back to him. He saw a faint dark mist around her, and got a sick feeling in his stomach. "Kari!"

The girl didn't hear him. She walked with quick steps, disappearing round the corner. _Oh no! She'll get taken to the Dark Ocean!_ But by the time Takato got to the alley, she was gone.

"Takato," Jeri pleaded, "Please talk to me. What is going on? Why did you yell 'Kari'? Do you know why those Royal Knights are here?"

"It's a really long story," Takato said meekly.

Jeri grabbed him before he could take off and forced him to face her. "Then start explaining, Takato. You seem to know what's going on. You can tell me."

Takato and Jeri stared into each other's eyes for a few moments, each unable to say anything to the other. Takato wanted to tell her the truth, he really did, but he didn't want to hurt Jeri's feelings. However, everything would be much worse if he lied now and she found out later. Clenching his fists, he bitterly said: "That girl, Kari, she and her friends are part of a group called the DigiDestined. They helped save me from this world they called the Dark Ocean, and Guilmon and I have been to the Digital World with them. Kari's brother has disappeared after acting strangely, and I think Kari got transported to the Dark Ocean a few seconds ago."

"I think I get the gist of it," Jeri admitted gently.

Takato bit his lip before admitting the final part: "And Jeri…there's one more thing. Kari and I…we weren't in Shinjuku to visit. We were on a date."

Silence. Jeri looked at Takato in disbelief, the same empty look on her face when Leomon was killed and absorbed by Beelzemon.

Takato wanted to apologize and was about to when Jeri ran off. He didn't chase after her. Or rather, he couldn't chase after her. His legs were glued to the ground, unmoving. All he could do was reach his hand out to her, mouthing the words "don't go". Takato could only watch as Jeri disappeared into the distance.

A strong pain panged in his chest, a feeling like he would be torn in two. It was worse than the longing he had for Jeri when he had moved to Odaiba, worse than the feelings of betraying Jeri for having any kind of emotion for Hikari. Was this what was called heartbreak?

"I shall destroy you, DigiDestined!" Craniamon shouted from behind Takato, attempting to hit him. Takato came to his senses, and dodged just in time. He took off again at his fastest pace, ignoring the intense feelings of remorse, guilt and nausea that slowly overtook him thanks to his heartbreak being added to his worry over Kari. Had Takato not been so caught up in getting away from Craniamon, he may have noticed small wisps of dark mist following after him.

* * *

Kari didn't know how long she had been crying, but she had stopped some time ago. She stared out into the empty void, looking for some kind of clue that would explain what was going on. Nothing. As far the eye could see, there was nothing but the same landscape of this dark realm.

"It's funny how fragile you humans are," a creepy voice said from behind.

Kari spun around, expecting to see her brother finally awoken from his trance. Unfortunately, Tai still hadn't moved from his position, there was no positive change in his condition. If anything, it had gotten worse. The buds were so big, they ripped the back of Tai's black T-shirt and burst out as wings.

As Kari stared at him in horror, the creepy voice came again: "Really, the simplest of things completely break you. Love, friendship… Those make you very weak." It seemed like the voice was coming from Tai, his lips moving. But it wasn't Tai's voice. And the look in his eyes was changing from empty and forlorn to cold and menacing.

The symbol of the Crest of Courage was now visible over the orb which ensnared Tai. The Crest, to Kari's surprise, was now black instead of orange. She tried to make sense of it all, but nothing added up. Why was all this happening to Tai, and why was the Crest of Courage suddenly black?

A bright glow in the horizon caught Kari's attention. It was a warm, kind light that made her feel safe. Although Kari didn't want to leave her brother like this, she instinctively stepped towards the light and kept walking until she was engulfed by it. Next thing she knew, Kari was at the beach in Odaiba.

"Kari!" The Kamiya girl whirled around when she heard TK's voice. She saw him and the others in her team running towards her with their partners, Shakkoumon de-digivolving to Patamon and Armadillomon, and Imperialdramon de-digivolving to Veemon and Wormmon. They had just barely beaten a Royal Knight called mon, who had appeared in Odaiba.

As they reached her, Hawkmon asked: "I believe something must have happened."

"Hey, weren't you on a date with Takato, Kari?" TK asked.

At the mention of the date, Kari felt like crying again. Seeing this, Yolei wrapped a comforting arm round the other girl's shoulders, saying compassionately: "Tell us what happened."

* * *

"Aargh!" Takato yelled, getting thrown to the street. Craniamon had just gotten hold of him and thrown him down. Takato felt like his ribs had broken and he couldn't breathe. He placed his hand to his pocket, pulling out his goggles. They weren't broken, luckily. With an unsteady hand, Takato put the goggles on and stood up.

"Why do you want to destroy the DigiDestined?!" he demanded, glaring at the Royal Knight before him.

"Simple. My master has given the order, and so we will do it. You DigiDestined destroyed two of us Royal Knights, and we won't rest until we have destroyed all of you!"

"What are you talking about?" Takato asked. As far as he knew, the DigiDestined never fought against a Royal Knight.

"Enough! You all will pay!" Craniamon struck his sword/stick down, making a tree fall. Takato just barely got out of the way of being crushed, but some thin branches hit him, tearing his clothes and scratching him.

Takato fell on his knees, and got up right away wit his hands clenched to fists. _What am I going to do? Guilmon's in Odaiba. I don't stand a chance against this guy!_ "Guilmon… If you can hear me, please help!"

**To be continued…**

* * *

Yup, Takato's in quite a pickle.

PS. Again, some of my story belongs to the writers of Takato's Light.

* * *

Important Notice: I'm really sorry, but it's gonna be a while before I'll update this fic. I promise to do it by the end of this year, though, so if I haven't I'm in a hospital or dead.


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